Best PlacesMoccasin, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Moccasin, 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.
Moccasin ranks 35,163rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on a stable housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Moccasin
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.
Moccasin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Moccasin ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of towns
- Short commute21.7 minutes each way, better than 81% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 78% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of towns
Where Moccasin ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Moccasin
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Moccasin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,221, 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 Moccasin's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Moccasin
Moccasin 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 Moccasin.
Who works in Moccasin, and how
Work in Moccasin centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Moccasin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Moccasin.
What the weather is like in Moccasin, month by month
Moccasin sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Moccasin
The nearest airport, Decatur, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Moccasin
Schools across Moccasin average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Beecher City Grade SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Altamont Grade SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Effingham High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Beecher City Jr-sr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Altamont High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Moccasin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Moccasin 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 Moccasin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Moccasin
Is Moccasin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Moccasin ranks 35,163rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, civic engagement, and short commutes, 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 Moccasin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,983. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $77,221 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Moccasin safe?
Yes, Moccasin is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $196 per resident a year.
Compare Moccasin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Moccasin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Moccasin 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.
Moccasin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Moccasin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Moccasin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Moccasin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Moccasin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Moccasin 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.