Best PlacesGalena, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Galena, 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.
Galena ranks 27,824th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Galena
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.
Galena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Galena ranks high
- Short commute16.1 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of towns
Where Galena ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Galena
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Galena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $68,397; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Galena's effective rate of 1.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Galena
Galena 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 Galena.
Who works in Galena, and how
Work in Galena centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in Galena
Galena has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of towns and more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Galena and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Galena, month by month
Galena sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 21° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Galena
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 133 miles away.
The best schools in and around Galena
Schools across Galena average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- River Ridge Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Galena Primary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Scales Mound Elem SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scales Mound Jr High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Galena Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- River Ridge Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- River Ridge High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Galena High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Scales Mound High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Galena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Galena 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 Galena against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Galena
Is Galena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Galena ranks 27,824th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and civic engagement, and lowest on taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Galena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $250,555. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $68,397 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Galena safe?
Galena is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $427 per resident a year.
Compare Galena with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Galena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Galena 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.
Galena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Galena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Galena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Galena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Galena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Galena 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.
- 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.