Best PlacesNaperville, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Naperville, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Naperville ranks 23rd of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $163,154, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are state finances, taxes, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Naperville
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.
The best areas in Naperville
The parts of Naperville, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Maple Brook, University Heights & Winding Creek Estates
Tree cover is thicker, schools score higher, and it is quieter.
Brook Wood Trace, Brook Crossing & Ashbury
Local pay stretches further and incomes run higher.
Tall Grass, Still Water & High Meadow
Commutes are longer.
Huntington
Transit reaches more jobs.
Farmington & Old Farm
Streets are more car-dependent and biking is worse.
Britany Springs & Lakewood Crossing
Fewer residents vote and crime runs higher.
West Highlands, Spring Brook Estates & Villages of Westglen
More homes sit empty and prices have run up more.
Windscape Village, Downtown Naperville & Jefferson Point
Fewer adults hold degrees.
Brookdale, Neudearborn Station & Prairie Lake Manor
More households have young kids.
Scores across Naperville run from about the 44th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Naperville's strengths and weaknesses
Naperville ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Health care access is the standout, in the top 1% of cities. High incomes and an educated workforce follow.
The one real hole is state finances, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and property taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Naperville ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$163,154 median, better than 98% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of cities
Where Naperville ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 3% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 4% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,491 a month, better than only 16% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Naperville
A household needs to earn about $162,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Naperville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $163,154, 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 Naperville's effective rate of 1.89%, 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 Naperville
Naperville's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Naperville.
Who works in Naperville, and how
Work in Naperville centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Naperville
Naperville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of cities and more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Naperville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Naperville, month by month
Naperville sees roughly 86 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 Naperville
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 21 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Naperville
Schools across Naperville average a B, better than 77% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Meadow Glens Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Highlands Elem SchoolA · 70% proficient
- River Woods Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kennedy Junior High SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Scullen Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Gordon Gregory Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Neuqua Valley High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Naperville North High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Naperville Central High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Naperville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Naperville 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 Naperville against the other 444 cities.
Who Naperville suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of cities and 30% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Naperville
Is Naperville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Naperville ranks 23rd of 445 cities. It scores highest on health care access, high incomes, and an educated workforce, 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 Naperville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $540,803. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $163,154 median income, cost of living beats 98% of cities.
Is Naperville safe?
Yes, Naperville is safer than 74% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Naperville?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 20. That works out to about 86 pleasant days a year, more than 37% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Naperville?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Maple Brook, University Heights & Winding Creek Estates, Brook Wood Trace, Brook Crossing & Ashbury, and Tall Grass, Still Water & High Meadow. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Naperville good for families?
Schools beat 77% of cities, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $1,491 a month.
Is Naperville good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 18% of cities. About 30% of workers already work from home.
Compare Naperville with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Naperville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Naperville 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.
Naperville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Naperville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Naperville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Naperville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Naperville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Naperville 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.