Best PlacesLake Zurich, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Zurich, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lake Zurich ranks 1,671st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Zurich
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.
Lake Zurich's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Zurich ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Household income$143,830 median, better than 97% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
Where Lake Zurich ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,267 a month, better than only 12% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Zurich
A household needs to earn about $139,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Zurich home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $143,830, 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 Lake Zurich's effective rate of 2.08%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich'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 Lake Zurich.
Who works in Lake Zurich, and how
Work in Lake Zurich centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lake Zurich
Lake Zurich has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of towns and more parkland per resident than 93% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lake Zurich and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lake Zurich, month by month
Lake Zurich sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Lake Zurich
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 18 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 Lake Zurich
Schools across Lake Zurich average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Sarah Adams Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Isaac Fox Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Twin Groves Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Woodlawn Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Lake Zurich Middle - S CampusB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Adlai E Stevenson High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Lake Zurich High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Zurich school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Zurich 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 Lake Zurich against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Lake Zurich suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 22% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 62% of towns and health care access beats 90%.
Common questions about living in Lake Zurich
Is Lake Zurich a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Zurich ranks 1,671st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, an educated workforce, and big-city access, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lake Zurich expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $451,694. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $143,830 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Lake Zurich safe?
Yes, Lake Zurich is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $210 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lake Zurich?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 21. That works out to about 92 pleasant days a year, more than 62% of towns.
Is Lake Zurich good for families?
Schools beat 71% of towns, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $1,267 a month.
Compare Lake Zurich with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Zurich. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Zurich 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.
Lake Zurich detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Zurich: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Zurich: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Zurich: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Zurich: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Zurich 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.