Best PlacesNew Boston, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Boston, 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.
New Boston ranks 40,809th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on a stable housing market.
The best neighborhoods in New Boston
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.
New Boston's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Boston ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- QuietBetter than 86% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 70% of towns
Where New Boston ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Boston
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Boston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,672, 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 New Boston's effective rate of 1.61%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in New Boston
New Boston'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 New Boston.
Who works in New Boston, and how
Work in New Boston centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in New Boston
New Boston has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of New Boston and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Boston, month by month
New Boston sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of New Boston
The nearest airport, Quad Cities International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Boston
Schools across New Boston average a D, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Boston Elem SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rockridge Jr High SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Mercer County Jr High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockridge High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Mercer County High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Boston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Boston 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 New Boston against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Boston
Is New Boston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Boston ranks 40,809th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, quiet, and few empty homes, 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 New Boston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $132,212. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $57,672 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is New Boston safe?
New Boston is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
Compare New Boston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Boston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Boston 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.
New Boston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Boston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Boston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Boston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Boston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Boston 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.