Best PlacesKilbourne, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kilbourne, 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.
Kilbourne ranks 44,861st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kilbourne
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.
Kilbourne's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kilbourne ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 78% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- QuietBetter than 70% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 63% of towns
Where Kilbourne ranks low
- Short commute43.0 minutes each way, better than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kilbourne
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kilbourne home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,781, 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 Kilbourne's effective rate of 1.28%, 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 Kilbourne
Kilbourne'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 Kilbourne.
Who works in Kilbourne, and how
Work in Kilbourne centers on agriculture & forestry and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Kilbourne
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kilbourne.
What the weather is like in Kilbourne, month by month
Kilbourne sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 29° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 54° | 44° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Kilbourne
The nearest airport, Abraham Lincoln Capital, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kilbourne
Schools across Kilbourne average a D, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Central Elem SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Porta CentralD · 20% proficient
- Illini Central Grade SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Havana Jr High SchoolD− · 19% proficient
- Illini Central Middle SchoolF · 11% proficient
- A-c Central Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Porta High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Havana High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- A-c Central High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kilbourne school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kilbourne 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 Kilbourne against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kilbourne
Is Kilbourne a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kilbourne ranks 44,861st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, walkability, and state infrastructure, and lowest on long commutes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kilbourne expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $99,021. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $53,781 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Kilbourne safe?
Kilbourne is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $302 per resident a year.
Compare Kilbourne with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kilbourne. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kilbourne 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.
Kilbourne detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kilbourne: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kilbourne: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kilbourne: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kilbourne: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kilbourne 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.