Best PlacesLakewood Township, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lakewood Township, 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.
Lakewood Township ranks 19,017th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lakewood Township
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.
Lakewood Township's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lakewood Township ranks high
- Short commute17.1 minutes each way, better than 95% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Household income$101,677 median, better than 86% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of towns
Where Lakewood Township ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lakewood Township
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lakewood Township home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,677, 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 Lakewood Township's effective rate of 1.19%, 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 Lakewood Township
Lakewood Township 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 Lakewood Township.
Who works in Lakewood Township, and how
Work in Lakewood Township centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Lakewood Township
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lakewood Township.
What the weather is like in Lakewood Township, month by month
Lakewood Township sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Lakewood Township
The nearest airport, Decatur, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lakewood Township
Schools across Lakewood Township average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cowden-herrick Grade SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moulton Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Pana Jr High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Shelbyville High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Pana Sr High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lakewood Township school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lakewood Township 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 Lakewood Township against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lakewood Township
Is Lakewood Township a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lakewood Township ranks 19,017th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, what local pay buys, and a stable housing market, 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 Lakewood Township expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,906. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $101,677 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Lakewood Township safe?
Lakewood Township is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $234 per resident a year.
Compare Lakewood Township with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lakewood Township. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lakewood Township 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.
Lakewood Township detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lakewood Township: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lakewood Township: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lakewood Township: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lakewood Township: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lakewood Township 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.