Best PlacesNiles, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Niles, 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.
Niles ranks 1,220th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Niles
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.
Niles' strengths and weaknesses
Where Niles ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of cities
Where Niles ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 19% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Niles
A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Niles home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,425, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Niles' effective rate of 1.72%, 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 Niles
Niles runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Niles.
Who works in Niles, and how
Work in Niles centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Niles
Niles has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of cities and more parkland per resident than 97% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Niles and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Niles, month by month
Niles sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Niles
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 6 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Niles
Schools across Niles average a C−, better than 19% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Franklin Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Fairview South Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Eugene Field Elem SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Emerson Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Gemini Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Niles West High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Niles North High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Niles school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Niles 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 Niles against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Niles suits
Common questions about living in Niles
Is Niles a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Niles ranks 1,220th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on transit, low disaster risk, and walkability, 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 Niles expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $363,144. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $87,425 median income, cost of living beats 39% of cities.
Is Niles safe?
Niles is safer than 24% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $308 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Niles?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 21. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 29% of cities.
Is Niles good for families?
Schools beat 19% of cities, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $1,105 a month.
Compare Niles with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Niles. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Niles 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.
Niles detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Niles: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Niles: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Niles: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Niles: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Niles 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.