Best PlacesGenoa, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Genoa, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Genoa ranks 17,545th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Genoa
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.
Genoa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Genoa ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 88% of towns
Where Genoa ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,235 a month, better than only 13% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Genoa
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Genoa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $104,909, 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 Genoa's effective rate of 2.11%, 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 Genoa
Genoa runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Genoa.
Who works in Genoa, and how
Work in Genoa centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Genoa
Genoa has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of towns and more parkland per resident than 97% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Genoa and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Genoa, month by month
Genoa sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 23° | 17° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Genoa
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 41 miles away.
The best schools in and around Genoa
Schools across Genoa average a D+, better than 13% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Grove Elementary SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Genoa Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- Meehan Elementary SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top middle schools
- Genoa-kingston Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Belvidere South Middle SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Genoa-kingston High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Belvidere High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Genoa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Genoa 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 Genoa against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Genoa
Is Genoa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Genoa ranks 17,545th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, walkability, and big-city access, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Genoa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $256,916. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $104,909 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is Genoa safe?
Genoa is safer than 55% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $237 per resident a year.
Compare Genoa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Genoa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Genoa 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.
Genoa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Genoa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Genoa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Genoa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Genoa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Genoa 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.