Best PlacesPaynes Point, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Paynes Point, 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.
Paynes Point ranks 31,647th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Paynes Point
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.
Paynes Point's strengths and weaknesses
Where Paynes Point ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of towns
Where Paynes Point ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Paynes Point
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Paynes Point home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,070, 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 Paynes Point's effective rate of 1.90%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Paynes Point
Paynes Point runs older than the country, 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 Paynes Point.
Who works in Paynes Point, and how
Work in Paynes Point centers on public administration and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Paynes Point
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Paynes Point.
What the weather is like in Paynes Point, month by month
Paynes Point sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Paynes Point
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around Paynes Point
Schools across Paynes Point average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kings Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Monroe Center Grade SchoolC− · 26% proficient
- Oregon Elem SchD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Meridian Jr High SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Stillman Valley High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Oregon Jr/sr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Rochelle Twp High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Paynes Point school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Paynes Point 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 Paynes Point against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Paynes Point
Is Paynes Point a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Paynes Point ranks 31,647th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, big-city access, and low disaster risk, and lowest on internet speeds and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Paynes Point expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,681. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $86,070 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Paynes Point safe?
Yes, Paynes Point is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $171 per resident a year.
Compare Paynes Point with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Paynes Point. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Paynes Point 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.
Paynes Point detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Paynes Point: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Paynes Point: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Paynes Point: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Paynes Point: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Paynes Point 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.