Best PlacesPreemption, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Preemption, 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.
Preemption ranks 15,367th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Property taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on what local pay buys.
The best neighborhoods in Preemption
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.
Preemption's strengths and weaknesses
Where Preemption ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Household income$94,816 median, better than 81% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- QuietBetter than 76% of towns
Where Preemption 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
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Preemption
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Preemption home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $94,816, 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 Preemption'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 Preemption
Preemption runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Preemption.
Who works in Preemption, and how
Work in Preemption centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Preemption
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Preemption.
What the weather is like in Preemption, month by month
Preemption sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 25° | 16° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Preemption
The nearest airport, Quad Cities International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 145 miles away.
The best schools in and around Preemption
Schools across Preemption average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sherrard Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Winola Elementary SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sherrard Jr High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Rockridge Jr High SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Rockridge High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Sherrard High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Preemption school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Preemption 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 Preemption against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Preemption
Is Preemption a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Preemption ranks 15,367th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, low crime, and high incomes, 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 Preemption expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,854. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $94,816 median income, cost of living beats 88% of towns.
Is Preemption safe?
Yes, Preemption is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $153 per resident a year.
Compare Preemption with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Preemption. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Preemption 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.
Preemption detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Preemption: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Preemption: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Preemption: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Preemption: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Preemption 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.