Best PlacesIroquois County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Iroquois 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.
Iroquois County ranks 2,082nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Iroquois 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.
Iroquois County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Iroquois County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 74% of counties
- TransitBetter than 72% of counties
Where Iroquois 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 6% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 11% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Iroquois County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Iroquois County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,184, 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 Iroquois County's effective rate of 1.53%, 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 Iroquois County
Iroquois 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 Iroquois County.
Who works in Iroquois County, and how
Work in Iroquois County centers on health care & social 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 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Iroquois County
Iroquois County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of counties and more parkland per resident than 67% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Iroquois County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Iroquois County growing, and who is moving in?
Iroquois County has lost about 9% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kankakee, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Iroquois County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Iroquois County, month by month
Iroquois County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Iroquois County
The nearest airport, University of Illinois/Willard, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around Iroquois County
Schools across Iroquois County average a D+, better than 18% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Iroquois West Elem School/gilmanA− · 60% proficient
- Herscher Intermediate SchB− · 43% proficient
- Donovan Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Donovan Jr High SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Paxton-buckley-loda Jr High SchC+ · 37% proficient
- Limestone Middle SchC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Herscher High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Milford High School CampusC− · 30% proficient
- Paxton-buckley-loda High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Iroquois County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Iroquois 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 Iroquois County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Iroquois County suits
Families
Schools land around the 18th percentile and crime safety beats 66%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Iroquois County
Is Iroquois County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Iroquois County ranks 2,082nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, a stable housing market, and fast internet, 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 Iroquois County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,757. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $69,184 median income, cost of living beats 52% of counties.
Is Iroquois County safe?
Yes, Iroquois County is safer than 66% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $236 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Iroquois County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 20. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 18% of counties.
Is Iroquois County good for families?
Schools beat 18% of counties, crime safety beats 66%, and childcare runs $704 a month.
Compare Iroquois County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Iroquois County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Iroquois 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.
Iroquois County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Iroquois County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Iroquois County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Iroquois County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Iroquois County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Iroquois 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.