Best PlacesMeeks, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Meeks, 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.
Meeks ranks 27,916th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Meeks
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.
Meeks' strengths and weaknesses
Where Meeks ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
- QuietBetter than 83% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 81% of towns
Where Meeks ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Meeks
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Meeks home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,714, 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 Meeks' effective rate of 1.69%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Meeks
Meeks 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 Meeks.
Who works in Meeks, and how
Work in Meeks centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Meeks
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Meeks.
What the weather is like in Meeks, month by month
Meeks sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Meeks
The nearest airport, University of Illinois/Willard, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 70 miles away.
The best schools in and around Meeks
Schools across Meeks average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pine Crest Elementary SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mary Miller Junior High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Georgetown-ridge Farm High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Meeks school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Meeks 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 Meeks against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Meeks
Is Meeks a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Meeks ranks 27,916th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, what local pay buys, and quiet, and lowest on the schools and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Meeks expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $109,100. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $90,714 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Meeks safe?
Yes, Meeks is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $164 per resident a year.
Compare Meeks with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Meeks. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Meeks 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.
Meeks detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Meeks: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Meeks: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Meeks: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Meeks: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Meeks 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.