Best PlacesGrayslake, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Grayslake, 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.
Grayslake ranks 3,959th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Grayslake
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.
Grayslake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grayslake ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of towns
Where Grayslake ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,267 a month, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Grayslake
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grayslake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $124,929, 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 Grayslake's effective rate of 2.96%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Grayslake
Grayslake runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Grayslake.
Who works in Grayslake, and how
Work in Grayslake centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Grayslake
Grayslake has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of towns and more parkland per resident than 89% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Grayslake and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Grayslake, month by month
Grayslake sees roughly 94 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 56° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Grayslake
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 27 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Grayslake
Schools across Grayslake average a C, better than 39% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Adler Park SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Prairie Crossing Charter SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Meadowview SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Highland Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Fremont Jr High/middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Park West SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Libertyville High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Grayslake Central High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Grayslake North High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grayslake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grayslake 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 Grayslake against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Grayslake suits
Families
Schools land around the 39th percentile and crime safety beats 58%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 20% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 64% of towns and health care access beats 74%.
Common questions about living in Grayslake
Is Grayslake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grayslake ranks 3,959th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, population health, and transit, 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 Grayslake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $314,070. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $124,929 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Grayslake safe?
Yes, Grayslake is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $220 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Grayslake?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 19. That works out to about 94 pleasant days a year, more than 64% of towns.
Is Grayslake good for families?
Schools beat 39% of towns, crime safety beats 58%, and childcare runs $1,267 a month.
Compare Grayslake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grayslake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grayslake 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.
Grayslake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grayslake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grayslake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grayslake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grayslake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grayslake 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.