Best PlacesHenderson County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Henderson County, 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.
Henderson County ranks 2,545th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Henderson County
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.
Henderson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Henderson County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 67% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 66% of counties
Where Henderson County ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Henderson County
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Henderson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,337, 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 Henderson County's effective rate of 1.44%, 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 Henderson County
Henderson County 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 Henderson County.
Who works in Henderson County, and how
Work in Henderson County 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 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Henderson County
Henderson County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Henderson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Henderson County growing, and who is moving in?
Henderson County has lost about 14% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Des Moines County, IA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Henderson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Henderson County, month by month
Henderson County sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Henderson County
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around Henderson County
Schools across Henderson County average an F, better than 1% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Prairie North Elementary SchD · 21% proficient
- Apollo Elem SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- United Elem Sch - WestD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mercer County Jr High SchoolD · 22% proficient
- United Jr High SchD− · 17% proficient
- West Prairie Junior High SchoolF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- United High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Illini West High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Mercer County High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Henderson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Henderson County 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 Henderson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Henderson County
Is Henderson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Henderson County ranks 2,545th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, health care access, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the schools and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Henderson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $111,208. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $66,337 median income, cost of living beats 64% of counties.
Is Henderson County safe?
Henderson County is safer than 51% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
Compare Henderson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Henderson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Henderson County 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.
Henderson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Henderson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Henderson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Henderson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Henderson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Henderson County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.