Best PlacesNew Dennison, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Dennison, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
New Dennison ranks 21,586th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in New Dennison
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 Dennison's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Dennison ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 83% of towns
- Household income$91,221 median, better than 78% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
Where New Dennison ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Dennison
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Dennison home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,221, 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 Dennison'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, 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 New Dennison
New Dennison'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 New Dennison.
Who works in New Dennison, and how
Work in New Dennison centers on education and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in New Dennison
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across New Dennison.
What the weather is like in New Dennison, month by month
New Dennison sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of New Dennison
The nearest airport, Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 110 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Dennison
Schools across New Dennison average a D+, better than 13% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Washington Elem SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Adams SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- Crab Orchard Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marion Jr High SchoolD · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Marion High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Crab Orchard High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Dennison school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Dennison 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 Dennison against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Dennison
Is New Dennison a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Dennison ranks 21,586th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, fast internet, and what local pay buys, 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 Dennison expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $192,935. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $91,221 median income, cost of living beats 83% of towns.
Is New Dennison safe?
Yes, New Dennison is safer than 94% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $129 per resident a year.
Compare New Dennison with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Dennison. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Dennison 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 Dennison detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Dennison: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Dennison: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Dennison: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Dennison: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Dennison 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.