Best PlacesLoda, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Loda, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Loda ranks 21,368th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Loda
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.
Loda's strengths and weaknesses
Where Loda ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- Household income$104,117 median, better than 87% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where Loda ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Loda
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Loda home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $104,117, 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 Loda's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 Loda
Loda 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 Loda.
Who works in Loda, and how
Work in Loda centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Loda
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Loda.
What the weather is like in Loda, month by month
Loda sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Loda
The nearest airport, University of Illinois/Willard, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Loda
Schools across Loda average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clara Peterson Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Paxton-buckley-loda Jr High SchC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Paxton-buckley-loda High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Cissna Park Sr High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Loda school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Loda 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 Loda against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Loda
Is Loda a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Loda ranks 21,368th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and high incomes, 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 Loda expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,598. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $104,117 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Loda safe?
Yes, Loda is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $220 per resident a year.
Compare Loda with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Loda. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Loda 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.
Loda detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Loda: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Loda: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Loda: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Loda: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Loda 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.