Best PlacesGodley, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Godley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Godley ranks 20,529th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Godley
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.
Godley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Godley ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of towns
Where Godley ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,328 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Godley
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Godley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,144, 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 Godley's effective rate of 1.18%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Godley
Godley runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Godley.
Who works in Godley, and how
Work in Godley centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Godley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Godley.
What the weather is like in Godley, month by month
Godley sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Godley
Chicago Midway International sits about 46 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Godley
Schools across Godley average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Coal City Intermediate SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Reed-custer Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- South Wilmington Grade SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Reed-custer Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Coal City High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Gardner-south Wilmington Twp H SD+ · 25% proficient
- Reed-custer High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Godley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Godley 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 Godley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Godley
Is Godley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Godley ranks 20,529th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, biking, and few empty homes, 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 Godley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,450. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $82,144 median income, cost of living beats 63% of towns.
Is Godley safe?
Yes, Godley is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $187 per resident a year.
Compare Godley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Godley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Godley 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.
Godley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Godley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Godley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Godley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Godley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Godley 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.