Best PlacesGolden Gate, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Golden Gate, 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.
Golden Gate ranks 46,058th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Golden Gate
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.
Golden Gate's strengths and weaknesses
Where Golden Gate ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Short commute24.5 minutes each way, better than 66% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 62% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 50% of towns
Where Golden Gate ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Golden Gate
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Golden Gate home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,611, 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 Golden Gate's effective rate of 1.40%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Golden Gate
Golden Gate runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Golden Gate.
Who works in Golden Gate, and how
Work in Golden Gate centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Golden Gate
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Golden Gate.
What the weather is like in Golden Gate, month by month
Golden Gate sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Golden Gate
The nearest airport, Evansville Regional, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Golden Gate
Schools across Golden Gate average a C−, better than 26% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Hope Elem SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Albion Grade SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- North Side Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Center Street Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Edwards County High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Fairfield Comm High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Golden Gate school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Golden Gate 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 Golden Gate against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Golden Gate
Is Golden Gate a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Golden Gate ranks 46,058th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on a weak job market and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Golden Gate expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $103,293. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $64,611 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Golden Gate safe?
Golden Gate is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $344 per resident a year.
Compare Golden Gate with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Golden Gate. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Golden Gate 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.
Golden Gate detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Golden Gate: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Golden Gate: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Golden Gate: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Golden Gate: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Golden Gate 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.