Best PlacesNokomis, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nokomis, 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.
Nokomis ranks 32,861st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Nokomis
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.
Nokomis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Nokomis ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 88% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
Where Nokomis ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nokomis
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nokomis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,040, 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 Nokomis' effective rate of 1.44%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Nokomis
Nokomis'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 Nokomis.
Who works in Nokomis, and how
Work in Nokomis centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Nokomis
Nokomis has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Nokomis and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Nokomis, month by month
Nokomis sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 29° | 22° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Nokomis
The nearest airport, Abraham Lincoln Capital, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 70 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nokomis
Schools across Nokomis average a C−, better than 19% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ramsey Elem SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- North Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Raymond Grade SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hillsboro Jr High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Pana Jr High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Lincolnwood Jr High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Ramsey High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Morrisonville High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Nokomis Jr/sr High SchD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nokomis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nokomis 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 Nokomis against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nokomis
Is Nokomis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nokomis ranks 32,861st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, a stable housing market, and biking, 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 Nokomis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $96,143. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $63,040 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Nokomis safe?
Yes, Nokomis is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
Compare Nokomis with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nokomis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nokomis 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.
Nokomis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nokomis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nokomis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nokomis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nokomis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nokomis 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.