Best PlacesPatoka, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Patoka, 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.
Patoka ranks 32,697th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. The schools pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in Patoka
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.
Patoka's strengths and weaknesses
Where Patoka ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 83% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 80% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 77% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 77% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
Where Patoka ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Patoka
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Patoka home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,489, 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 Patoka's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 Patoka
Patoka'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 Patoka.
Who works in Patoka, and how
Work in Patoka centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Patoka
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Patoka.
What the weather is like in Patoka, month by month
Patoka sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 48° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Patoka
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Patoka
Schools across Patoka average a D−, better than 3% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Patoka Elem SchoolD− · 11% proficient
- South Central Elementary-kinmundyF · 10% proficient
- Sandoval Elem SchoolF · 4% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Central Middle SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Sandoval Jr High SchoolF · 10% proficient
- Patoka Jr High SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Patoka Sr High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- South Central High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Sandoval Sr High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Patoka school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Patoka 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 Patoka against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Patoka
Is Patoka a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Patoka ranks 32,697th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, a stable housing market, and low crime, and lowest on the schools and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Patoka expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $124,781. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $66,489 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Patoka safe?
Yes, Patoka is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $180 per resident a year.
Compare Patoka with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Patoka. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Patoka 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.
Patoka detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Patoka: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Patoka: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Patoka: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Patoka: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Patoka 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.