Best PlacesMcLean County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in McLean 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.
McLean County ranks 664th 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 cell coverage and biking. The weaker spots are property taxes, state finances, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in McLean 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 McLean County
The parts of McLean 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.
Normal
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more households have young kids.
Heyworth
Biking is worse and homes cost more.
Bloomington
More adults hold degrees and it is quieter.
Le Roy
Prices have run up less, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Lexington
More residents vote, though commutes are longer.
McLean County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 9% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
McLean County's strengths and weaknesses
McLean County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Cell coverage is the standout, in the top 3% of counties. Biking and transit follow.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. State finances and taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where McLean County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of counties
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of counties
Where McLean County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,405 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in McLean County
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McLean County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,232, 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 McLean County's effective rate of 2.07%, 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 McLean County
McLean County runs younger 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 McLean County.
Who works in McLean County, and how
Work in McLean County centers on finance & insurance and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in McLean County
McLean County has more parkland per resident than 71% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 86% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of McLean County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is McLean County growing, and who is moving in?
McLean County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving McLean County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in McLean County, month by month
McLean County sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of McLean County
The nearest airport, Central Il Regional/Bloomington- Normal, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around McLean County
Schools across McLean County average a C−, better than 21% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Tri-valley Elem SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Thomas Metcalf SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Benjamin Elem SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tri-valley Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Lexington Jr High SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Epg Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- University High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Tri-valley High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Normal Community High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McLean County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McLean 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 McLean County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who McLean County suits
Families
Schools land around the 21st percentile and crime safety beats 71%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in McLean County
Is McLean County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McLean County ranks 664th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, biking, and transit, 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 McLean County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $222,491. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $89,232 median income, cost of living beats 84% of counties.
Is McLean County safe?
Yes, McLean County is safer than 71% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $232 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in McLean County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 20. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in McLean County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Normal, Heyworth, and Bloomington. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is McLean County good for families?
Schools beat 21% of counties, crime safety beats 71%, and childcare runs $1,405 a month.
Is McLean County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 92% of counties. About 17% of workers already work from home.
Compare McLean County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McLean County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McLean 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.
McLean County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McLean County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McLean County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McLean County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McLean County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McLean 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.