Best PlacesPotomac, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Potomac, 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.
Potomac ranks 24,950th 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 Potomac
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.
Potomac's strengths and weaknesses
Where Potomac ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 76% of towns
Where Potomac 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 8% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Potomac
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Potomac home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,874, 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 Potomac's effective rate of 1.46%, 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 Potomac
Potomac runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Potomac.
Who works in Potomac, and how
Work in Potomac centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Potomac
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Potomac.
What the weather is like in Potomac, month by month
Potomac sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 64° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Potomac
The nearest airport, University of Illinois/Willard, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Potomac
Schools across Potomac average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Gifford Grade SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Bismarck-henning Elem SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Armstrong-ellis Elem SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bismarck-henning Jr High SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- St Joseph-ogden High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Armstrong High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Coop Hs 1D− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Potomac school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Potomac 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 Potomac against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Potomac
Is Potomac a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Potomac ranks 24,950th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and walkability, 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 Potomac expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,784. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $77,874 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Potomac safe?
Yes, Potomac is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $191 per resident a year.
Compare Potomac with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Potomac. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Potomac 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.
Potomac detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Potomac: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Potomac: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Potomac: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Potomac: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Potomac 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.