Best PlacesMonmouth, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Monmouth, 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.
Monmouth ranks 29,438th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Monmouth
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.
Monmouth's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monmouth ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Short commute15.9 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
Where Monmouth 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 5% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Monmouth
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monmouth home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,123, 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 Monmouth's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Monmouth
Monmouth's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Monmouth.
Who works in Monmouth, and how
Work in Monmouth centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Monmouth
Monmouth has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of towns and more parkland per resident than 95% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Monmouth and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Monmouth, month by month
Monmouth sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Monmouth
The nearest airport, Southeast Iowa Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 150 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monmouth
Schools across Monmouth average a D, better than 6% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Steele SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- United Elem Sch - WestD− · 15% proficient
- Harding Primary SchoolD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- United Jr High SchD− · 17% proficient
- Central Intermediate SchoolF · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Monmouth-roseville High SchD · 23% proficient
- Galesburg Senior High SchoolD · 22% proficient
- United High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monmouth school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monmouth 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 Monmouth against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Monmouth
Is Monmouth a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monmouth ranks 29,438th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, short commutes, and a stable housing 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 Monmouth expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $105,465. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $64,123 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is Monmouth safe?
Monmouth is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
Compare Monmouth with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monmouth. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monmouth 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.
Monmouth detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monmouth: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monmouth: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monmouth: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monmouth: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monmouth 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.