Best PlacesNew Memphis, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Memphis, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
New Memphis ranks 25,300th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on fast internet.
The best neighborhoods in New Memphis
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 Memphis' strengths and weaknesses
Where New Memphis ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 83% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 74% of towns
Where New Memphis ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 50 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Memphis
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Memphis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,651, 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 Memphis' effective rate of 1.60%, 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 Memphis
New Memphis 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 New Memphis.
Who works in New Memphis, and how
Work in New Memphis centers on construction and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in New Memphis
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across New Memphis.
What the weather is like in New Memphis, month by month
New Memphis sees roughly 50 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of New Memphis
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Memphis
Schools across New Memphis average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mascoutah Elem SchoolB · 46% proficient
- New Baden Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Okawville Grade SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mascoutah Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Wesclin Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Mascoutah High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Wesclin Sr High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Okawville Jr/sr High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Memphis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Memphis 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 Memphis against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Memphis
Is New Memphis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Memphis ranks 25,300th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, a stable housing market, and a strong job market, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is New Memphis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $217,840. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $76,651 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is New Memphis safe?
New Memphis is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $233 per resident a year.
Compare New Memphis with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Memphis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Memphis 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 Memphis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Memphis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Memphis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Memphis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Memphis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Memphis 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.