Best PlacesOgle County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ogle County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ogle County ranks 1,107th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ogle County
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.
The best areas in Ogle County
The parts of Ogle County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Byron & Stillman Valley
Crime runs lower, more households have young kids, and incomes run higher.
Davis Junction
Local pay stretches further, though biking is worse.
Rochelle
Prices have run up less, though it is noisier.
Oregon
Tree cover is thicker and fewer homes sit empty.
Mount Morris & Polo
Health outcomes score lower and fewer adults hold degrees.
Scores across Ogle County run from about the 10th to the 81st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Ogle County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ogle County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of counties
- Household income$85,054 median, better than 82% of counties
Where Ogle County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,015 a month, better than only 16% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ogle County
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ogle County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,054, 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 Ogle County's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 Ogle County
Ogle County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ogle County.
Who works in Ogle County, and how
Work in Ogle County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Ogle County
Ogle County has more parkland per resident than 68% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Ogle County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ogle County growing, and who is moving in?
Ogle County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Rockford, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ogle County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ogle County, month by month
Ogle County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Ogle County
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 69 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ogle County
Schools across Ogle County average a C−, better than 21% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mary Morgan Elem SchB+ · 51% proficient
- Eastland Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Creston Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Byron Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Pecatonica Comm Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Aplington Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Byron High School 9-12C+ · 35% proficient
- Forreston Jr/sr High SchC · 34% proficient
- Stillman Valley High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ogle County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ogle County 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 Ogle County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ogle County suits
Families
Schools land around the 21st percentile and crime safety beats 80%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Ogle County
Is Ogle County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ogle County ranks 1,107th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, low disaster risk, and fast internet, and lowest on state finances and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ogle County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,241. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $85,054 median income, cost of living beats 86% of counties.
Is Ogle County safe?
Yes, Ogle County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ogle County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 30 with lows near 16. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ogle County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Byron & Stillman Valley, Davis Junction, and Rochelle. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Ogle County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ogle County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ogle County 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.
Ogle County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ogle County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ogle County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ogle County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ogle County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ogle County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.