Best PlacesMount Morris, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mount Morris, 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.
Mount Morris ranks 32,811th 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 Mount Morris
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.
Mount Morris' strengths and weaknesses
Where Mount Morris ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- BikingBetter than 85% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of towns
Where Mount Morris 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 9% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mount Morris
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mount Morris home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,301, 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 Mount Morris' effective rate of 1.57%, 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 Mount Morris
Mount Morris 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 Mount Morris.
Who works in Mount Morris, and how
Work in Mount Morris centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Mount Morris
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mount Morris.
What the weather is like in Mount Morris, month by month
Mount Morris sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Mount Morris
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mount Morris
Schools across Mount Morris average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mary Morgan Elem SchB+ · 51% proficient
- Forreston Grade SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Oregon Elem SchD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Byron Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Byron High School 9-12C+ · 35% proficient
- Oregon Jr/sr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mount Morris school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mount Morris 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 Mount Morris against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mount Morris
Is Mount Morris a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mount Morris ranks 32,811th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, fast internet, 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 Mount Morris expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $156,888. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $59,301 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Mount Morris safe?
Mount Morris is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $310 per resident a year.
Compare Mount Morris with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mount Morris. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mount Morris 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.
Mount Morris detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mount Morris: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mount Morris: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mount Morris: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mount Morris: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mount Morris 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.