Best PlacesPaxton, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Paxton, 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.
Paxton ranks 23,448th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Paxton
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.
Paxton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Paxton ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of towns
Where Paxton ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Paxton
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Paxton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,673, 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 Paxton's effective rate of 2.04%, 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 Paxton
Paxton'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 Paxton.
Who works in Paxton, and how
Work in Paxton 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 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Paxton
Paxton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Paxton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Paxton, month by month
Paxton sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Paxton
The nearest airport, University of Illinois/Willard, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Paxton
Schools across Paxton average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gifford Grade SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Fisher Grade SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Clara Peterson Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Paxton-buckley-loda Jr High SchC+ · 37% proficient
- Gcms Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Fisher Jr/sr High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Gcms High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Paxton-buckley-loda High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Paxton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Paxton 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 Paxton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Paxton
Is Paxton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Paxton ranks 23,448th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, walkability, 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 Paxton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,065. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $65,673 median income, cost of living beats 50% of towns.
Is Paxton safe?
Paxton is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
Compare Paxton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Paxton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Paxton 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.
Paxton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Paxton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Paxton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Paxton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Paxton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Paxton 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.