Best PlacesOttawa, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ottawa, 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.
Ottawa ranks 24,098th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ottawa
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.
Ottawa's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ottawa ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of towns
Where Ottawa 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
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ottawa
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ottawa home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,768, 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 Ottawa's effective rate of 2.45%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ottawa
Ottawa's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Ottawa.
Who works in Ottawa, and how
Work in Ottawa centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Ottawa
Ottawa has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of towns and more parkland per resident than 91% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ottawa and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ottawa, month by month
Ottawa sees roughly 57 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Ottawa
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ottawa
Schools across Ottawa average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Indian Creek Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Mckinley Elem SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Waltham Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Millbrook Junior High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Serena Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Shepherd Middle SchoolD · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Indian Creek High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Newark Comm High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Leland High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ottawa school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ottawa 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 Ottawa against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Ottawa suits
Families
Schools land around the 18th percentile and crime safety beats 72%.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Ottawa
Is Ottawa a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ottawa ranks 24,098th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, walkability, and biking, 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 Ottawa expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $170,861. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $78,768 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Ottawa safe?
Yes, Ottawa is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $201 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ottawa?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 19. That works out to about 57 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of towns.
Is Ottawa good for families?
Schools beat 18% of towns, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $998 a month.
Compare Ottawa with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ottawa. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ottawa 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.
Ottawa detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ottawa: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ottawa: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ottawa: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ottawa: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ottawa 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.