Best PlacesNorth Barrington, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Barrington, 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 Barrington ranks 1,040th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Barrington
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 Barrington's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Barrington ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$189,307 median, better than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
Where North Barrington ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,267 a month, better than only 12% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Barrington
A household needs to earn about $191,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Barrington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $189,307; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Barrington's effective rate of 2.08%, 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 10 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 Barrington
North Barrington runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Barrington.
Who works in North Barrington, and how
Work in North Barrington centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in North Barrington
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across North Barrington.
What the weather is like in North Barrington, month by month
North Barrington sees roughly 91 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 North Barrington
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 20 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 Barrington
Schools across North Barrington average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Barrington Elem SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Seth Paine Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lake Zurich Middle - N CampusB · 44% proficient
- Barrington Middle Sch StationC+ · 38% proficient
- Barrington Mdle Sch- Prairie CmpsC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Barrington High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Lake Zurich High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Barrington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Barrington 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 Barrington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Barrington
Is North Barrington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Barrington ranks 1,040th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and an educated workforce, 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 Barrington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $620,969. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $189,307 median income, cost of living beats 100% of towns.
Is North Barrington safe?
Yes, North Barrington is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $193 per resident a year.
Compare North Barrington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Barrington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Barrington 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 Barrington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Barrington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Barrington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Barrington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Barrington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Barrington 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.