Best PlacesMacon County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Macon 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.
Macon County ranks 2,173rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on property taxes and state finances. It does better on cell coverage, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Macon 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 Macon County
The parts of Macon 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.
Mount Zion & Long Creek
Fewer homes sit empty, more residents vote, and crime runs lower.
Forsyth
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Decatur
Streets are more walkable, though health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Macon County run from about the 1st to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Macon County's strengths and weaknesses
Macon County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Cell coverage, what local pay buys, and short commutes carry most of that.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. State finances and the schools also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Macon County to another than it does between Macon County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Macon County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 82% of counties
- Short commute19.4 minutes each way, better than 82% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of counties
- BikingBetter than 77% of counties
Where Macon County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- School gradeD−, better than only 3% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Macon County
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Macon County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,645, 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 Macon 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Macon County
Macon 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 Macon County.
Who works in Macon County, and how
Work in Macon County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Macon County
Macon County has more parkland per resident than 88% of counties and less late-night activity than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Macon County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Macon County growing, and who is moving in?
Macon County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Macon County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Macon County, month by month
Macon County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 29° | 22° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Macon County
The nearest airport, Decatur, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around Macon County
Schools across Macon County average a D−, better than 3% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mt Zion Elem SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Maroa-forsyth Grade SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Cerro Gordo Elem SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mt Zion Jr High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Maroa-forsyth Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Meridian Middle SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Mt Zion High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Cerro Gordo Jr And Sr High SchC+ · 35% proficient
- Maroa-forsyth Senior High SchC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Macon County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Macon 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 Macon County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Macon County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Macon County
Is Macon County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Macon County ranks 2,173rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, what local pay buys, and short commutes, 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 Macon County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $127,201. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $70,645 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Macon County safe?
Macon County is safer than 26% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $362 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Macon County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 22. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 23% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Macon County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Mount Zion & Long Creek, Forsyth, and Decatur. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Macon County good for families?
Schools beat 3% of counties, crime safety beats 26%, and childcare runs $1,009 a month.
Is Macon County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 71% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Macon County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Macon County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Macon 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.
Macon County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Macon County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Macon County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Macon County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Macon County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Macon 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.