Best PlacesPayson, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Payson, 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.
Payson ranks 23,879th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Payson
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.
Payson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Payson ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Short commute21.4 minutes each way, better than 82% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 81% of towns
Where Payson ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Payson
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Payson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,706, 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 Payson's effective rate of 1.56%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Payson
Payson runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Payson.
Who works in Payson, and how
Work in Payson centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Payson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Payson.
What the weather is like in Payson, month by month
Payson sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Payson
The nearest airport, Quincy Regional-Baldwin Field, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around Payson
Schools across Payson average a D, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln-douglas Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Thomas S Baldwin Elem SchD+ · 21% proficient
- Western Barry ElemD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Quincy Jr High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Western Jr High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Quincy Sr High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Western High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Seymour High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Payson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Payson 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 Payson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Payson
Is Payson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Payson ranks 23,879th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low disaster risk, and short commutes, and lowest on taxes and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Payson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,854. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $72,706 median income, cost of living beats 46% of towns.
Is Payson safe?
Yes, Payson is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $188 per resident a year.
Compare Payson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Payson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Payson 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.
Payson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Payson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Payson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Payson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Payson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Payson 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.