Best PlacesNew Minden, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Minden, 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 Minden ranks 29,308th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in New Minden
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 Minden's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Minden ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Short commute20.2 minutes each way, better than 87% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 85% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
Where New Minden ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 51 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Minden
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Minden home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,769, 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 Minden's effective rate of 1.34%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in New Minden
New Minden'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 Minden.
Who works in New Minden, and how
Work in New Minden centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in New Minden
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across New Minden.
What the weather is like in New Minden, month by month
New Minden sees roughly 51 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 47° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of New Minden
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Minden
Schools across New Minden average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Okawville Grade SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Nashville Grade SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Okawville Jr/sr High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Nashville Comm High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Minden school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Minden 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 Minden against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in New Minden
Is New Minden a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Minden ranks 29,308th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, a stable housing market, and short commutes, 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 Minden expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $173,500. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $85,769 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is New Minden safe?
New Minden is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $232 per resident a year.
Compare New Minden with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Minden. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Minden 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 Minden detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Minden: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Minden: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Minden: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Minden: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Minden 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.