Best PlacesLivingston County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Livingston County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Livingston County ranks 1,715th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Livingston 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.
The best areas in Livingston County
The parts of Livingston County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Fairbury
More households have young kids, more residents vote, and it is quieter.
Dwight
Transit reaches more jobs, though commutes are longer.
Pontiac
Incomes run lower and local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Livingston County run from about the 14th to the 66th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Livingston County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Livingston County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- TransitBetter than 86% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 80% of counties
Where Livingston County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Livingston County
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Livingston County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,987, 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 Livingston County's effective rate of 1.91%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Livingston County
Livingston County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Livingston County.
Who works in Livingston County, and how
Work in Livingston County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Livingston County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Livingston County.
Is Livingston County growing, and who is moving in?
Livingston County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Livingston County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Livingston County, month by month
Livingston County sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Livingston County
The nearest airport, Central Il Regional/Bloomington- Normal, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 75 miles away.
The best schools in and around Livingston County
Schools across Livingston County average a D, better than 6% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Herscher Intermediate SchB− · 43% proficient
- Centennial SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Prairie Central Elem SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Prairie Central Upper ElementaryC+ · 39% proficient
- Paxton-buckley-loda Jr High SchC+ · 37% proficient
- Lexington Jr High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- El Paso-gridley High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Herscher High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Gcms High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Livingston County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Livingston 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 Livingston County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Livingston County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 74% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 7% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Livingston County
Is Livingston County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Livingston County ranks 1,715th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, big-city access, and low disaster risk, and lowest on property 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 Livingston County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $153,175. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $76,987 median income, cost of living beats 74% of counties.
Is Livingston County safe?
Livingston County is safer than 50% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Livingston County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 20. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Livingston County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fairbury, Dwight, and Pontiac. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Livingston County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Livingston County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Livingston 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.
Livingston County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Livingston County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Livingston County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Livingston County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Livingston County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Livingston 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.