Best PlacesPort Byron, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Port Byron, 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.
Port Byron ranks 7,787th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Port Byron
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.
Port Byron's strengths and weaknesses
Where Port Byron ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Household income$103,082 median, better than 87% of towns
Where Port Byron ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,080 a month, better than only 20% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Port Byron
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Port Byron home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $103,082, 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 Port Byron's effective rate of 1.97%, 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 Port Byron
Port Byron runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Port Byron.
Who works in Port Byron, and how
Work in Port Byron centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Port Byron
Port Byron has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of towns and more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Port Byron and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Port Byron, month by month
Port Byron sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Port Byron
The nearest airport, Quad Cities International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 127 miles away.
The best schools in and around Port Byron
Schools across Port Byron average a C−, better than 27% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Riverdale Elem SchoolC− · 26% proficient
- Hampton Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Eagle Ridge SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Riverdale Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Northeast Jr High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Riverdale Sr High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- United Twp High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Port Byron school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Port Byron 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 Port Byron against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Port Byron
Is Port Byron a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Port Byron ranks 7,787th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, what local pay buys, and few empty homes, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Port Byron expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $268,194. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $103,082 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Port Byron safe?
Yes, Port Byron is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $141 per resident a year.
Compare Port Byron with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Port Byron. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Port Byron 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.
Port Byron detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Port Byron: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Port Byron: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Port Byron: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Port Byron: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Port Byron 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.