Best PlacesPlainfield, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Plainfield, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Plainfield ranks 89th of 445 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $137,545, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are state finances, property taxes, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Plainfield
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 Plainfield
The parts of Plainfield, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the city.
Northwestern Plainfield
More adults hold degrees, schools score higher, and local pay stretches further.
Mayfair
It is quieter, though health care is harder to reach.
Northeastern Plainfield
Fewer households have young kids and incomes run lower.
Scores across Plainfield run from about the 28th to the 96th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Plainfield's strengths and weaknesses
Plainfield ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 1% of cities. A stable housing market and heat safety follow.
The one real hole is state finances, near the bottom of the country. Property taxes and taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Plainfield ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Household income$137,545 median, better than 95% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of cities
Where Plainfield ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 3% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 4% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 4% of cities
- Short commute33.7 minutes each way, better than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Plainfield
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Plainfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $137,545, 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 Plainfield'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 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 Plainfield
Plainfield runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Plainfield.
Who works in Plainfield, and how
Work in Plainfield centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Plainfield
Plainfield has more parkland per resident than 91% of cities and less late-night activity than most cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Plainfield and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Plainfield, month by month
Plainfield sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 60° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 84° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Plainfield
Chicago Midway International sits about 27 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Plainfield
Schools across Plainfield average a C−, better than 17% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Danielle-joy Peterson Elem SchB+ · 54% proficient
- Wayne Builta Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Walkers Grove Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Scullen Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Gordon Gregory Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Clifford Crone Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Waubonsie Valley High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Plainfield North High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Oswego East High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Plainfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Plainfield 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 Plainfield against the other 444 cities.
Who Plainfield suits
Families
Schools land around the 17th percentile and crime safety beats 94%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of cities and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Plainfield
Is Plainfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Plainfield ranks 89th of 445 cities. It scores highest on few empty homes, a stable housing market, and heat safety, and lowest on state finances and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Plainfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $370,974. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $137,545 median income, cost of living beats 94% of cities.
Is Plainfield safe?
Yes, Plainfield is safer than 94% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $170 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Plainfield?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 20. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Plainfield?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Northwestern Plainfield, Mayfair, and Northeastern Plainfield. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Plainfield good for families?
Schools beat 17% of cities, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $1,337 a month.
Is Plainfield good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of cities, though advertised internet speeds beat only 50% of cities. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Plainfield with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Plainfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Plainfield 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.
Plainfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Plainfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Plainfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Plainfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Plainfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Plainfield 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.