Best PlacesMchenry, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mchenry, 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.
Mchenry ranks 1,023rd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mchenry
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.
Mchenry's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mchenry ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of cities
- QuietBetter than 92% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of cities
Where Mchenry ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 15% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Mchenry
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mchenry home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $100,539, 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 Mchenry's effective rate of 2.39%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mchenry
Mchenry 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 Mchenry.
Who works in Mchenry, and how
Work in Mchenry centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Mchenry
Mchenry has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of cities and more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mchenry and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mchenry, month by month
Mchenry sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 56° | 46° | 37° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 63° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Mchenry
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 31 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Mchenry
Schools across Mchenry average a C−, better than 15% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Richmond Grade SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Prairie Grove Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Big Hollow Elem SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top middle schools
- Nippersink Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Prairie Grove Junior High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Northwood Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Prairie Ridge High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Richmond-burton High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Wauconda High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mchenry school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mchenry 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 Mchenry against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Mchenry suits
Families
Schools land around the 15th percentile and crime safety beats 70%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 55% of cities, health care access beats 63%, and it is quieter than 92%.
Common questions about living in Mchenry
Is Mchenry a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mchenry ranks 1,023rd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, quiet, and low disaster risk, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mchenry expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $279,934. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $100,539 median income, cost of living beats 66% of cities.
Is Mchenry safe?
Yes, Mchenry is safer than 70% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $200 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mchenry?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 19. That works out to about 92 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of cities.
Is Mchenry good for families?
Schools beat 15% of cities, crime safety beats 70%, and childcare runs $1,369 a month.
Compare Mchenry with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mchenry. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mchenry 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.
Mchenry detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mchenry: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mchenry: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mchenry: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mchenry: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mchenry 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.