Best PlacesKent, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kent, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kent ranks 21,786th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kent
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.
Kent's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kent ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute19.6 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- QuietBetter than 76% of towns
Where Kent ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kent
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kent home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,529, 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 Kent's effective rate of 1.43%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Kent
Kent 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 Kent.
Who works in Kent, and how
Work in Kent centers on hospitality & food and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Kent
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kent.
What the weather is like in Kent, month by month
Kent sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Kent
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kent
Schools across Kent average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Stockton Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Lena-winslow Elem SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Pearl City Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lena-winslow Jr High SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Pearl City Jr High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Pearl City High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Lena-winslow High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Stockton Sr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kent school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kent 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 Kent against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kent
Is Kent a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kent ranks 21,786th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, a strong job market, and short commutes, and lowest on 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 Kent expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,750. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $62,529 median income, cost of living beats 25% of towns.
Is Kent safe?
Yes, Kent is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $129 per resident a year.
Compare Kent with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kent. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kent 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.
Kent detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kent: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kent: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kent: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kent: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kent 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.