Best PlacesPeoria County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Peoria County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Peoria County ranks 1,439th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on property taxes and state finances. It does better on transit, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Peoria County
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.
The best areas in Peoria County
The parts of Peoria County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Dunlap
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Brimfield, Princeville & Elmwood
Crime runs lower and schools score higher.
Chillicothe
More residents vote, though biking is worse.
Mapleton
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer households have young kids.
Peoria
Transit reaches more jobs, though prices have run up more.
Bartonville & West Peoria
Streets are more walkable, though health care is harder to reach.
Peoria County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 2%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Peoria County's strengths and weaknesses
Peoria County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Transit, biking, and an educated workforce carry most of that.
The one real hole is property taxes, near the bottom of the country. State finances and taxes also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Peoria County to another than it does between Peoria County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Peoria County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 90% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 87% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of counties
- Short commute19.2 minutes each way, better than 83% of counties
Where Peoria County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,105 a month, better than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Peoria County
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Peoria County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,928, 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 Peoria County's effective rate of 2.15%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Peoria County
Peoria County'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 Peoria County.
Who works in Peoria County, and how
Work in Peoria County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Peoria County
Peoria County has more parkland per resident than 81% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Peoria County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Peoria County growing, and who is moving in?
Peoria County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Peoria, IL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Peoria County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Peoria County, month by month
Peoria County sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 66° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Peoria County
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Peoria County
Schools across Peoria County average a C−, better than 19% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hickory Grove Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Dunlap Grade SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Ridgeview Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Reservoir Gifted SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Dunlap Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Dunlap Valley Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Dunlap High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Princeville High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Brimfield High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Peoria County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Peoria County 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 Peoria County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Peoria County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of counties and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Peoria County
Is Peoria County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Peoria County ranks 1,439th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, biking, and an educated workforce, and lowest on property 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 Peoria County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $174,474. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $78,928 median income, cost of living beats 77% of counties.
Is Peoria County safe?
Peoria County is safer than 33% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $348 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Peoria County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 18. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 6% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Peoria County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Dunlap, Brimfield, Princeville & Elmwood, and Chillicothe. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Peoria County good for families?
Schools beat 19% of counties, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $1,105 a month.
Is Peoria County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 57% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Peoria County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Peoria County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Peoria County 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.
Peoria County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Peoria County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Peoria County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Peoria County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Peoria County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Peoria County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.