Best PlacesOtto, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Otto, 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.
Otto ranks 35,159th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Otto
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.
Otto's strengths and weaknesses
Where Otto ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 78% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
Where Otto ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Otto
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Otto home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,555, 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 Otto's effective rate of 1.99%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Otto
Otto runs younger 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 Otto.
Who works in Otto, and how
Work in Otto centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Otto
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Otto.
What the weather is like in Otto, month by month
Otto sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Otto
Chicago Midway International sits about 52 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Otto
Schools across Otto average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Chebanse Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- John L Nash Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Central High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Otto school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Otto 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 Otto against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Otto
Is Otto a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Otto ranks 35,159th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, cell coverage, and low disaster risk, 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 Otto expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,449. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $61,555 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is Otto safe?
Yes, Otto is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $216 per resident a year.
Compare Otto with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Otto. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Otto 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.
Otto detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Otto: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Otto: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Otto: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Otto: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Otto 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.