Best PlacesLee County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lee County, 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.
Lee County ranks 1,699th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lee 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.
Lee County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lee County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 71% of counties
Where Lee County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 10% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,051 a month, better than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lee County
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lee County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,188, 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 Lee County's effective rate of 1.79%, 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 Lee County
Lee County 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 Lee County.
Who works in Lee County, and how
Work in Lee County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lee County
Lee County has more parkland per resident than 98% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Lee County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lee County growing, and who is moving in?
Lee County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Ogle County, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lee County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lee County, month by month
Lee County sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 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 | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Lee County
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lee County
Schools across Lee County average a D, better than 10% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Indian Creek Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Amboy Central Elem SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Creston Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Aplington Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Indian Creek Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Rochelle Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Indian Creek High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Rock Falls Township High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Dixon High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lee County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lee 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 Lee County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lee County suits
Families
Schools land around the 10th percentile and crime safety beats 81%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Lee County
Is Lee County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lee County ranks 1,699th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, fast internet, and low crime, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lee County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,972. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $74,188 median income, cost of living beats 59% of counties.
Is Lee County safe?
Yes, Lee County is safer than 81% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $217 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lee County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 17. That works out to about 83 pleasant days a year, more than 43% of counties.
Is Lee County good for families?
Schools beat 10% of counties, crime safety beats 81%, and childcare runs $1,051 a month.
Compare Lee County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lee County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lee 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.
Lee County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lee County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lee County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lee County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lee County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lee 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.