Best PlacesMiddlegrove, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Middlegrove, 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.
Middlegrove ranks 25,814th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on civic engagement.
The best neighborhoods in Middlegrove
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.
Middlegrove's strengths and weaknesses
Where Middlegrove ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 73% of towns
Where Middlegrove ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Middlegrove
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Middlegrove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,734, 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 Middlegrove's effective rate of 1.75%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Middlegrove
Middlegrove 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 Middlegrove.
Who works in Middlegrove, and how
Work in Middlegrove centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Middlegrove
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Middlegrove.
What the weather is like in Middlegrove, month by month
Middlegrove sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Middlegrove
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 136 miles away.
The best schools in and around Middlegrove
Schools across Middlegrove average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Spoon River Valley Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Farmington Central Elem SchD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Farmington Central Jr High SchC− · 30% proficient
- Spoon River Valley Jr High SchC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Spoon River Valley Sr High SchD · 21% proficient
- Farmington Central High SchD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Middlegrove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Middlegrove 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 Middlegrove against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Middlegrove
Is Middlegrove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Middlegrove ranks 25,814th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, a stable housing market, and a strong job market, and lowest on 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 Middlegrove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $151,016. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $75,734 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Middlegrove safe?
Yes, Middlegrove is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
Compare Middlegrove with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Middlegrove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Middlegrove 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.
Middlegrove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Middlegrove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Middlegrove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Middlegrove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Middlegrove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Middlegrove 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.