Best PlacesMadison County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Madison County, 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.
Madison County ranks 1,232nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on transit and what local pay buys. The weaker spots are state finances, taxes, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Madison 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 Madison County
The parts of Madison 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.
Edwardsville, Glen Carbon & Highland
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Troy, Maryville & St. Jacob
Crime runs lower and more residents vote.
Worden
Biking is worse and transit reaches fewer jobs.
Wood River & South Roxana
Fewer households have young kids and it is noisier.
Bethalto & East Alton
Homes cost less, though prices have run up more.
Collinsville & Pontoon Beach
Schools score lower.
Alton & Godfrey
Tree cover is thicker, though more homes sit empty.
Granite City
Health outcomes score lower and health care is harder to reach.
Madison County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 6%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Madison County's strengths and weaknesses
Madison County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Transit, what local pay buys, and biking carry most of that.
The one real hole is state finances, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and property taxes also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Madison County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of counties
- BikingBetter than 89% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 84% of counties
- Household income$85,678 median, better than 83% of counties
Where Madison 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 4% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,176 a month, better than only 9% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Madison County
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Madison County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,678, 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 Madison County's effective rate of 1.78%, 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 Madison County
Madison 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 Madison County.
Who works in Madison County, and how
Work in Madison County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Madison County
Madison County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of counties and more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Madison County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Madison County growing, and who is moving in?
Madison County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the St Louis, MO metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Madison County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Madison County, month by month
Madison County sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Madison County
St Louis Lambert International sits about 20 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 7.5 million passengers in 2025, with 114 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Madison County
Schools across Madison County average a D+, better than 13% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Aviston Elem SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Alhambra Primary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- St Jacob Elem SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Triad Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Highland Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Liberty Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Edwardsville High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Triad High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Highland High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Madison County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Madison 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 Madison County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Madison County suits
Families
Schools land around the 13th percentile and crime safety beats 57%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Madison County
Is Madison County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Madison County ranks 1,232nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, what local pay buys, and biking, 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 Madison County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,554. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $85,678 median income, cost of living beats 93% of counties.
Is Madison County safe?
Yes, Madison County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Madison County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 24. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Madison County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Edwardsville, Glen Carbon & Highland, Troy, Maryville & St. Jacob, and Worden. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Madison County good for families?
Schools beat 13% of counties, crime safety beats 57%, and childcare runs $1,176 a month.
Is Madison County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 84% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Madison County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Madison County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Madison 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.
Madison County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Madison County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Madison County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Madison County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Madison County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Madison 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.