Best PlacesFulton County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fulton County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Fulton County ranks 2,533rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. State finances pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on a stable housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Fulton County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Fulton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fulton County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 77% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 64% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 64% of counties
Where Fulton County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fulton County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fulton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,703, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Fulton County's effective rate of 1.77%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fulton County
Fulton County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fulton County.
Who works in Fulton County, and how
Work in Fulton County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Fulton County
Fulton County has more parkland per resident than 96% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Fulton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fulton County growing, and who is moving in?
Fulton County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Peoria, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fulton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fulton County, month by month
Fulton County sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Fulton County
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fulton County
Schools across Fulton County average a D, better than 6% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Spoon River Valley Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Cuba Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Farmington Central Elem SchD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Farmington Central Jr High SchC− · 30% proficient
- Spoon River Valley Jr High SchC− · 30% proficient
- Illini Bluffs Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Canton High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Spoon River Valley Sr High SchD · 21% proficient
- Rushville-industry High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fulton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fulton County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Fulton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Fulton County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Fulton County
Is Fulton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fulton County ranks 2,533rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, walkability, and state infrastructure, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fulton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $116,266. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $63,703 median income, cost of living beats 43% of counties.
Is Fulton County safe?
Fulton County is safer than 35% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $301 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fulton County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 18. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of counties.
Is Fulton County good for families?
Schools beat 6% of counties, crime safety beats 35%, and childcare runs $841 a month.
Compare Fulton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fulton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fulton County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Fulton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fulton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fulton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fulton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fulton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fulton County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.