Best PlacesMokena, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mokena, 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.
Mokena ranks 746th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mokena
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.
Mokena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mokena ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 83% of cities
Where Mokena ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Mokena
A household needs to earn about $123,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mokena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $125,302, 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 Mokena's effective rate of 2.06%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mokena
Mokena runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mokena.
Who works in Mokena, and how
Work in Mokena centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Mokena
Mokena has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 93% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Mokena and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mokena, month by month
Mokena sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 84° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Mokena
Chicago Midway International sits about 19 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Mokena
Schools across Mokena average a B−, better than 56% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Chelsea Elem SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Mokena Elem SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Dr Julian Rogus SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hickory Creek Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Spencer CrossingB · 46% proficient
- Mokena Jr High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Lincoln-way East High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Lincoln-way Central High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Lincoln Way WestB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mokena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mokena 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 Mokena against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Mokena suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of cities and 17% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Mokena
Is Mokena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mokena ranks 746th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on civic engagement, few empty homes, and low disaster risk, 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 Mokena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $402,372. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $125,302 median income, cost of living beats 83% of cities.
Is Mokena safe?
Yes, Mokena is safer than 81% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $177 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mokena?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 20. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 43% of cities.
Is Mokena good for families?
Schools beat 56% of cities, crime safety beats 81%, and childcare runs $1,352 a month.
Compare Mokena with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mokena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mokena 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.
Mokena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mokena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mokena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mokena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mokena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mokena 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.