Best PlacesOswego, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oswego, 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.
Oswego ranks 540th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Oswego
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.
Oswego's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oswego ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 94% of cities
- QuietBetter than 85% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of cities
Where Oswego ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Short commute31.0 minutes each way, better than only 19% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Oswego
A household needs to earn about $107,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oswego home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $124,240, 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 Oswego's effective rate of 2.31%, 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 Oswego
Oswego's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Oswego.
Who works in Oswego, and how
Work in Oswego centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Oswego
Oswego has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 96% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Oswego and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oswego, month by month
Oswego sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Oswego
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 30 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 Oswego
Schools across Oswego average a C, better than 21% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Circle Center Grade SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Grande Reserve Elem SchB− · 43% proficient
- Wolfs Crossing Elem SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Yorkville Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Bednarcik Junior High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Murphy Junior High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Oswego East High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Yorkville High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Oswego High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oswego school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oswego 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 Oswego against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Oswego suits
Families
Schools land around the 21st percentile and crime safety beats 76%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 83% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 60% of cities, health care access beats 65%, and it is quieter than 85%.
Common questions about living in Oswego
Is Oswego a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oswego ranks 540th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, heat safety, and a strong job market, 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 Oswego expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $338,880. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $124,240 median income, cost of living beats 83% of cities.
Is Oswego safe?
Yes, Oswego is safer than 76% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $187 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oswego?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 17. That works out to about 99 pleasant days a year, more than 60% of cities.
Is Oswego good for families?
Schools beat 21% of cities, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $1,203 a month.
Compare Oswego with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oswego. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oswego 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.
Oswego detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oswego: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oswego: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oswego: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oswego: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oswego 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.