Best PlacesKane County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kane County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kane County ranks 395th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $112,628, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, state finances, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Kane 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 Kane County
The parts of Kane 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.
Campton Hills & Elburn
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
St. Charles, Geneva & South Elgin
More residents vote and schools score higher.
Hampshire, Pingree Grove & Gilberts
Health care is easier to reach, though streets are more car-dependent.
Wayne
Fewer households have young kids and transit reaches fewer jobs.
Sugar Grove & Montgomery
Crime runs lower, though biking is worse.
Algonquin
Scores close to Sugar Grove & Montgomery, except that tree cover is thicker here.
Aurora
More homes sit empty.
North Aurora
Homes cost less and commutes are shorter.
Elgin & Carpentersville
Kane County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Kane County's strengths and weaknesses
Kane County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Big-city access and biking follow.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. State finances and taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Kane County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 98% of counties
- BikingBetter than 97% of counties
- Household income$112,628 median, better than 96% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of counties
Where Kane County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,380 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kane County
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kane County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $112,628, 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 Kane County's effective rate of 2.14%, 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 Kane County
Kane County's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kane County.
Who works in Kane County, and how
Work in Kane 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 79%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Kane County
Kane County has more parkland per resident than 85% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Kane County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kane County growing, and who is moving in?
Kane County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Chicago, IL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kane County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kane County, month by month
Kane County sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Kane County
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 22 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Kane County
Schools across Kane County average a C−, better than 18% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Norton Creek Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Bell-graham Elementary SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Ferson Creek SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thompson Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Wredling Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Prairie Knolls Middle SchB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Barrington High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Geneva Community High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- St Charles North High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kane County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kane 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 Kane County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kane County suits
Families
Schools land around the 18th percentile and crime safety beats 63%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Kane County
Is Kane County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kane County ranks 395th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, big-city access, and biking, and lowest on property taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kane County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $328,476. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $112,628 median income, cost of living beats 95% of counties.
Is Kane County safe?
Yes, Kane County is safer than 63% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kane County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 18. That works out to about 99 pleasant days a year, more than 59% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kane County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Campton Hills & Elburn, St. Charles, Geneva & South Elgin, and Hampshire, Pingree Grove & Gilberts. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Kane County good for families?
Schools beat 18% of counties, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $1,380 a month.
Is Kane County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 83% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Kane County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kane County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kane 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.
Kane County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kane County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kane County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kane County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kane County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kane 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.