Best PlacesMonroe County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Monroe County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Monroe County ranks 523rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Monroe County
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.
Monroe County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monroe County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Household income$102,089 median, better than 93% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of counties
Where Monroe County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Monroe County
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monroe County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,089, 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 Monroe County's effective rate of 1.48%, 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 Monroe County
Monroe County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Monroe County.
Who works in Monroe County, and how
Work in Monroe County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Monroe County
Monroe County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Monroe County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Monroe County growing, and who is moving in?
Monroe County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the St Louis, MO metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Monroe County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Monroe County, month by month
Monroe County sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Monroe County
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 29 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monroe County
Schools across Monroe County average a B−, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Rogers Elem SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Parkview Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- New Athens ElemB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Athens Jr HighB+ · 48% proficient
- Waterloo Junior High SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Columbia Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Columbia High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Waterloo High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Red Bud High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monroe County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monroe County 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 Monroe County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Monroe County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of counties and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Monroe County
Is Monroe County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monroe County ranks 523rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, what local pay buys, and low crime, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monroe County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $286,351. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $102,089 median income, cost of living beats 97% of counties.
Is Monroe County safe?
Yes, Monroe County is safer than 96% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $164 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Monroe County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 26. That works out to about 63 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of counties.
Is Monroe County good for families?
Schools beat 56% of counties, crime safety beats 96%, and childcare runs $896 a month.
Compare Monroe County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monroe County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monroe County 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.
Monroe County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monroe County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monroe County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monroe County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monroe County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monroe County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.