Best PlacesGreen River, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Green River, 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.
Green River ranks 16,958th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Green River
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.
Green River's strengths and weaknesses
Where Green River ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
Where Green River ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Green River
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Green River home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,164, 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 Green River's effective rate of 1.94%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Green River
Green River runs older than the country, 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 Green River.
Who works in Green River, and how
Work in Green River centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Green River
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Green River.
What the weather is like in Green River, month by month
Green River sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Green River
The nearest airport, Quad Cities International, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 128 miles away.
The best schools in and around Green River
Schools across Green River average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Southwest Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Northside Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Geneseo Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Geneseo High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Green River school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Green River 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 Green River against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Green River
Is Green River a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Green River ranks 16,958th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, a stable housing market, and few empty homes, and lowest on taxes and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Green River expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $234,066. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $87,164 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is Green River safe?
Yes, Green River is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $152 per resident a year.
Compare Green River with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Green River. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Green River 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.
Green River detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Green River: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Green River: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Green River: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Green River: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Green River 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.