Best PlacesNorth Aurora, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Aurora, 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.
North Aurora ranks 5,593rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Aurora
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.
North Aurora's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Aurora ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of towns
- TransitBetter than 95% of towns
Where North Aurora ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,380 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Aurora
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Aurora home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $125,721, 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 North Aurora's effective rate of 2.19%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in North Aurora
North Aurora's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Aurora.
Who works in North Aurora, and how
Work in North Aurora centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in North Aurora
North Aurora has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of towns and more parkland per resident than 90% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of North Aurora and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Aurora, month by month
North Aurora sees roughly 98 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of North Aurora
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 25 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 North Aurora
Schools across North Aurora average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Louise White Elem SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Alice Gustafson Elem SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- J B Nelson Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sam Rotolo Middle SchB− · 41% proficient
- Jewel Middle SchoolC− · 31% proficient
- Kaneland Harter Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Batavia Sr High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Kaneland Senior High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- West Aurora High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Aurora school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Aurora 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 North Aurora against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Aurora
Is North Aurora a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Aurora ranks 5,593rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, big-city access, and cell coverage, 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 North Aurora expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $334,929. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $125,721 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is North Aurora safe?
Yes, North Aurora is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
Compare North Aurora with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Aurora. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Aurora 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.
North Aurora detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Aurora: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Aurora: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Aurora: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Aurora: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Aurora 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.