Best PlacesMarine, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Marine, 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.
Marine ranks 12,017th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Marine
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.
Marine's strengths and weaknesses
Where Marine ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
Where Marine ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 52 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Marine
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marine home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $97,650, 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 Marine's effective rate of 1.63%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Marine
Marine runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Marine.
Who works in Marine, and how
Work in Marine centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Marine
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Marine.
What the weather is like in Marine, month by month
Marine sees roughly 52 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 Marine
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 32 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marine
Schools across Marine average a B−, better than 59% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Alhambra Primary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Marine Elem SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Triad Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Highland Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- 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 Marine school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marine 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 Marine against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Marine
Is Marine a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marine ranks 12,017th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, few empty homes, and population health, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Marine expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $235,013. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $97,650 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Marine safe?
Yes, Marine is safer than 78% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $174 per resident a year.
Compare Marine with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marine. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marine 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.
Marine detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marine: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marine: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marine: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marine: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marine 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.