Best PlacesIllinois Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Illinois, 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.
Illinois ranks 34th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on property taxes and a weak job market. It does better on walkability, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Illinois
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 Illinois
The counties of Illinois, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Kane County, DuPage County & McHenry County
Crime runs lower, incomes run higher, and fewer homes sit empty.
Cook County
Streets are more walkable and big-city amenities are closer.
Will County, McLean County & Kendall County
Local pay stretches further, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Peoria County, Rock Island County & Tazewell County
Homes cost less, though biking is worse.
Madison County, St. Clair County & Sangamon County
Prices have run up less, though health outcomes score lower.
Kankakee County & Vermilion County
Commutes are longer and fewer adults hold degrees.
Stephenson County, Whiteside County & Ogle County
It is quieter and more residents vote.
Champaign County, Macon County & Williamson County
Disaster risk is higher and schools score lower.
Crawford County, Edgar County & Clark County
Illinois shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Illinois' strengths and weaknesses
Illinois lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Walkability, cell coverage, and transit carry most of that.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. A weak job market and the schools also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Illinois to another than it does between Illinois and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Illinois ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of states
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of states
- TransitBetter than 89% of states
- BikingBetter than 89% of states
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of states
Where Illinois ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of states
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of states
- School gradeC−, better than only 5% of states
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of states
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 5% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Illinois
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Illinois home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,892, 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 Illinois' effective rate of 1.87%, 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 Illinois
Illinois'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 Illinois.
Who works in Illinois, and how
Work in Illinois centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Illinois
Illinois has more parkland per resident than 79% of states and more late-night spots per resident than 67% of states. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Illinois and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Illinois, month by month
Illinois sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 77° | 70° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
The best schools in and around Illinois
Schools across Illinois average a C−, better than 5% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Skinner North Elem SchA+ · 87% proficient
- Edison Elem Regional Gifted CntrA+ · 83% proficient
- Keller Elem Gifted Magnet SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thurgood Marshall SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Reservoir Gifted SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Hickory Creek Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Payton College Preparatory HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Northside College Preparatory HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Jones College Prep High SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Illinois school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Illinois 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 Illinois against the other 49 states.
Who Illinois suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of states and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Illinois
Is Illinois a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Illinois ranks 34th of 50 states. It scores highest on walkability, cell coverage, and transit, and lowest on property taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Illinois expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $300,491. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $94,892 median income, cost of living beats 77% of states.
Is Illinois safe?
Illinois is safer than 13% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $350 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Illinois?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 22. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of states.
What are the best areas in Illinois?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Kane County, DuPage County & McHenry County, Cook County, and Will County, McLean County & Kendall County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Illinois good for families?
Schools beat 5% of states, crime safety beats 13%, and childcare runs $1,140 a month.
Is Illinois good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of states, though advertised internet speeds beat only 55% of states. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Illinois with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Illinois. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Illinois 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.
Illinois detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Illinois: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Illinois: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Illinois: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Illinois: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Illinois 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.
- 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.