Best PlacesHudson, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hudson, 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.
Hudson ranks 10,966th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Hudson
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.
Hudson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hudson ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$125,922 median, better than 94% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of towns
Where Hudson 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
- Cheap childcare$1,404 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hudson
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hudson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $125,922, 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 Hudson's effective rate of 2.19%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hudson
Hudson'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 Hudson.
Who works in Hudson, and how
Work in Hudson centers on finance & insurance and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hudson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hudson.
What the weather is like in Hudson, month by month
Hudson sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Hudson
The nearest airport, Central Il Regional/Bloomington- Normal, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hudson
Schools across Hudson average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hudson Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Lexington Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Carlock Elem SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lexington Jr High SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Parkside Jr High SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Kingsley Jr High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Normal Community West High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Lexington High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hudson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hudson 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 Hudson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hudson
Is Hudson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hudson ranks 10,966th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and an educated workforce, 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 Hudson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $237,568. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $125,922 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Hudson safe?
Yes, Hudson is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $184 per resident a year.
Compare Hudson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hudson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hudson 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.
Hudson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hudson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hudson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hudson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hudson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hudson 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.