Best PlacesKendall County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kendall 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.
Kendall County ranks 219th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $118,349, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, state finances, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Kendall 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 Kendall County
The parts of Kendall 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.
Yorkville
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more residents vote.
Plainfield & Joliet
Crime runs lower, though advertised internet is slower.
Montgomery
Fewer adults hold degrees.
Oswego, Boulder Hill & Aurora
Prices have run up less, though fewer households have young kids.
Plano
Scores close to Oswego, Boulder Hill & Aurora, except that biking is worse here.
Kendall County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 14% of the country and others in the top 5%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Kendall County's strengths and weaknesses
Kendall 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 what local pay buys 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 Kendall County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of counties
- Household income$118,349 median, better than 97% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 97% of counties
Where Kendall 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$1,203 a month, better than only 9% of counties
- Short commute31.6 minutes each way, better than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kendall County
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kendall County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $118,349, 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 Kendall County's effective rate of 2.30%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kendall County
Kendall County runs younger than the country, 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 Kendall County.
Who works in Kendall County, and how
Work in Kendall County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Kendall County
Kendall County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 80% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kendall County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kendall County growing, and who is moving in?
Kendall County has grown about 18% 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 Kendall County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kendall County, month by month
Kendall County sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Kendall County
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 32 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 Kendall County
Schools across Kendall County average a C−, better than 27% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lisbon Grade SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Saratoga Elem SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Circle Center Grade SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Yorkville Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Bednarcik Junior High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Millbrook Junior High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Plainfield North High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Oswego East High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Yorkville High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kendall County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kendall 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 Kendall County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Kendall County suits
Families
Schools land around the 27th percentile and crime safety beats 91%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Kendall County
Is Kendall County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kendall County ranks 219th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, big-city access, and what local pay buys, 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 Kendall County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $324,477. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $118,349 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Kendall County safe?
Yes, Kendall County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $183 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kendall County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 17. That works out to about 93 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Kendall County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Yorkville, Plainfield & Joliet, and Montgomery. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Kendall County good for families?
Schools beat 27% of counties, crime safety beats 91%, and childcare runs $1,203 a month.
Is Kendall County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 89% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Kendall County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kendall County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kendall 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.
Kendall County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kendall County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kendall County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kendall County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kendall County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kendall 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.