Best PlacesGranite City, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Granite City, 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.
Granite City ranks 1,929th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Granite City
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.
Granite City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Granite City ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- TransitBetter than 85% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 78% of cities
- Short commute22.2 minutes each way, better than 76% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 72% of cities
Where Granite City ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 3% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- Household income$61,760 median, better than only 10% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Granite City
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Granite City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,760, 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 Granite City's effective rate of 1.86%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Granite City
Granite City's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Granite City.
Who works in Granite City, and how
Work in Granite City centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Granite City
Granite City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of cities and more parkland per resident than 83% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Granite City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Granite City, month by month
Granite City sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Granite City
St Louis Lambert International sits about 14 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.5 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Granite City
Schools across Granite City average a D−, better than 3% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Maryville Elem SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Woodland Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Mitchell Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lincoln Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Coolidge Junior High SchD+ · 25% proficient
- Grigsby Intermediate SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Collinsville High SchoolD · 19% proficient
- Granite City High SchoolF · 11% proficient
- Roxana Sr High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Granite City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Granite City 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 Granite City against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Granite City suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Granite City
Is Granite City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Granite City ranks 1,929th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a stable housing market, transit, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the schools and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Granite City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $110,548. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $61,760 median income, cost of living beats 32% of cities.
Is Granite City safe?
Granite City is safer than 18% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $343 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Granite City?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 26. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of cities.
Is Granite City good for families?
Schools beat 3% of cities, crime safety beats 18%, and childcare runs $1,176 a month.
Compare Granite City with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Granite City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Granite City 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.
Granite City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Granite City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Granite City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Granite City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Granite City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Granite City 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.