Best PlacesPenfield, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Penfield, 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.
Penfield ranks 18,145th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Penfield
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.
Penfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Penfield ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of towns
- Household income$104,340 median, better than 87% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of towns
Where Penfield ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Penfield
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Penfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $104,340, 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 Penfield's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 Penfield
Penfield's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Penfield.
Who works in Penfield, and how
Work in Penfield centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Penfield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Penfield.
What the weather is like in Penfield, month by month
Penfield sees roughly 57 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 Penfield
The nearest airport, University of Illinois/Willard, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Penfield
Schools across Penfield average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gifford Grade SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Armstrong-ellis Elem SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Prairieview-ogden South ElemD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Prairieview-ogden Jr High SchB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Armstrong High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Rantoul Twp High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Penfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Penfield 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 Penfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Penfield
Is Penfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Penfield ranks 18,145th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, what local pay buys, and high incomes, 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 Penfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $146,815. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $104,340 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Penfield safe?
Yes, Penfield is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $139 per resident a year.
Compare Penfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Penfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Penfield 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.
Penfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Penfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Penfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Penfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Penfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Penfield 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.