Best PlacesHenry County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Henry County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Henry County ranks 1,676th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Henry 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.
The best areas in Henry County
The parts of Henry County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Orion
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and schools score higher.
Geneseo
More residents vote and crime runs lower.
Colona
Fewer homes sit empty and prices have run up less.
Kewanee
Homes cost less, though fewer households have young kids.
Galva
Advertised internet is slower and health outcomes score lower.
Scores across Henry County run from about the 4th to the 84th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Henry County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Henry County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- TransitBetter than 85% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 83% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 81% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 75% of counties
Where Henry County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 13% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Henry County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Henry County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,881, 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 Henry County's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Henry County
Henry 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 Henry County.
Who works in Henry County, and how
Work in Henry County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Henry County
Henry County has more parkland per resident than 92% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Henry County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Henry County growing, and who is moving in?
Henry County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Davenport, IA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Henry County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Henry County, month by month
Henry County sees roughly 68 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 Henry County
The nearest airport, Quad Cities International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 123 miles away.
The best schools in and around Henry County
Schools across Henry County average a D+, better than 13% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Cambridge Comm Grade SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- C R Hanna Elem SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Erie Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Orion Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Erie Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Geneseo Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Geneseo High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Orion High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Erie High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Henry County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Henry 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 Henry County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Henry County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Henry County
Is Henry County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Henry County ranks 1,676th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, transit, and civic engagement, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Henry County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,148. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $75,881 median income, cost of living beats 81% of counties.
Is Henry County safe?
Henry County is safer than 52% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $267 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Henry County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 16. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Henry County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Orion, Geneseo, and Colona. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Henry County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Henry County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Henry 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.
Henry County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Henry County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Henry County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Henry County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Henry County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Henry 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.