Best PlacesNew Lenox, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Lenox, 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.
New Lenox ranks 644th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in New Lenox
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 Lenox's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Lenox ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of cities
Where New Lenox ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 12% of cities
- Short commute31.7 minutes each way, better than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in New Lenox
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Lenox home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $138,230, 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 Lenox's effective rate of 2.17%, 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 New Lenox
New Lenox's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Lenox.
Who works in New Lenox, and how
Work in New Lenox centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in New Lenox
New Lenox has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of New Lenox and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Lenox, month by month
New Lenox sees roughly 74 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 New Lenox
Chicago Midway International sits about 22 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around New Lenox
Schools across New Lenox average a C+, better than 38% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Chelsea Elem SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Spencer PointeB · 50% proficient
- Union Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hickory Creek Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Spencer CrossingB · 46% proficient
- Alex M Martino Jr High SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Lincoln-way East High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Lincoln-way Central High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Lincoln Way WestB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Lenox school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Lenox 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 Lenox against the other 2,097 cities.
Who New Lenox suits
Families
Schools land around the 38th percentile and crime safety beats 88%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in New Lenox
Is New Lenox a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Lenox ranks 644th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on civic engagement, heat safety, and low disaster risk, 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 New Lenox expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $388,872. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $138,230 median income, cost of living beats 90% of cities.
Is New Lenox safe?
Yes, New Lenox is safer than 88% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $157 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in New Lenox?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 20. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of cities.
Is New Lenox good for families?
Schools beat 38% of cities, crime safety beats 88%, and childcare runs $1,352 a month.
Compare New Lenox with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Lenox. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Lenox 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 Lenox detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Lenox: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Lenox: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Lenox: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Lenox: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Lenox 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.