Best PlacesGurnee, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Gurnee, 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.
Gurnee ranks 656th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Gurnee
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.
Gurnee's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gurnee ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of cities
Where Gurnee ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Gurnee
A household needs to earn about $105,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gurnee home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $130,838, 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 Gurnee's effective rate of 2.45%, 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 Gurnee
Gurnee's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gurnee.
Who works in Gurnee, and how
Work in Gurnee centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Gurnee
Gurnee has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gurnee and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Gurnee, month by month
Gurnee 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 Gurnee
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 28 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 Gurnee
Schools across Gurnee average a C−, better than 16% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Oak Grove Elem SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Woodland Intermediate SchD+ · 25% proficient
- Woodland ElementaryD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Viking SchoolD− · 13% proficient
- Woodland Middle SchoolF · 10% proficient
- Miguel Juarez Middle SchoolF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Libertyville High SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Warren Township High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Waukegan High SchoolF · 6% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gurnee school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gurnee 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 Gurnee against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Gurnee suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities and 20% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 56% of cities and health care access beats 72%.
Common questions about living in Gurnee
Is Gurnee a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gurnee ranks 656th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, low disaster risk, and heat safety, 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 Gurnee expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $329,130. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $130,838 median income, cost of living beats 90% of cities.
Is Gurnee safe?
Gurnee is safer than 52% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Gurnee?
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 56% of cities.
Is Gurnee good for families?
Schools beat 16% of cities, crime safety beats 52%, and childcare runs $1,267 a month.
Compare Gurnee with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gurnee. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gurnee 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.
Gurnee detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gurnee: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gurnee: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gurnee: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gurnee: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gurnee 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.