Best PlacesOblong, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oblong, 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.
Oblong ranks 32,365th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Oblong
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.
Oblong's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oblong ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute18.1 minutes each way, better than 93% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of towns
Where Oblong ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oblong
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oblong home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,379, 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 Oblong's effective rate of 1.32%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oblong
Oblong runs older than the country, 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 Oblong.
Who works in Oblong, and how
Work in Oblong centers on education and other services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Oblong
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oblong.
What the weather is like in Oblong, month by month
Oblong sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Oblong
The nearest airport, Evansville Regional, is about 70 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oblong
Schools across Oblong average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hutsonville Elem And Jr High SchC− · 28% proficient
- Newton Elem SchoolC− · 26% proficient
- Monroe Elem SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jasper Co Jr HighB− · 43% proficient
- Nuttall Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Casey-westfield Jr/sr HsD+ · 25% proficient
- Robinson High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Hutsonville High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oblong school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oblong 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 Oblong against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oblong
Is Oblong a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oblong ranks 32,365th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, short commutes, and fast internet, 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 Oblong expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $104,654. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $57,379 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Oblong safe?
Yes, Oblong is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
Compare Oblong with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oblong. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oblong 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.
Oblong detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oblong: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oblong: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oblong: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oblong: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oblong 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.