Best PlacesMorton, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Morton, 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.
Morton ranks 5,090th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Morton
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.
Morton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Morton ranks high
- Short commute16.6 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
Where Morton ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,088 a month, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Morton
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Morton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,606, 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 Morton's effective rate of 1.95%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Morton
Morton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Morton.
Who works in Morton, and how
Work in Morton centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Morton
Morton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns and more parkland per resident than 87% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Morton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Morton, month by month
Morton 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 Morton
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Morton
Schools across Morton average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln Elem SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Grundy Elem SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Lettie Brown Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Intermediate SchA− · 58% proficient
- Morton Jr High SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Washington Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Morton High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Washington Comm High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Tremont High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Morton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Morton 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 Morton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Morton
Is Morton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Morton ranks 5,090th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, cell coverage, and an educated workforce, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Morton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $254,718. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $101,606 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Morton safe?
Yes, Morton is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $148 per resident a year.
Compare Morton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Morton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Morton 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.
Morton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Morton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Morton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Morton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Morton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Morton 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.