Best PlacesRamsey, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ramsey, 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.
Ramsey ranks 37,269th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on walkability.
The best neighborhoods in Ramsey
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.
Ramsey's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ramsey ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- BikingBetter than 73% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 72% of towns
Where Ramsey ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ramsey
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ramsey home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,852, 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 Ramsey's effective rate of 1.18%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ramsey
Ramsey 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 Ramsey.
Who works in Ramsey, and how
Work in Ramsey 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 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Ramsey
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ramsey.
What the weather is like in Ramsey, month by month
Ramsey sees roughly 59 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° | 29° | 22° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Ramsey
The nearest airport, Decatur, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ramsey
Schools across Ramsey average a C, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ramsey Elem SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- North Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Vandalia Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pana Jr High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Vandalia Junior High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Ramsey High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Vandalia Community High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ramsey school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ramsey 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 Ramsey against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ramsey
Is Ramsey a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ramsey ranks 37,269th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, a stable housing market, and state infrastructure, 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 Ramsey expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $85,724. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $56,852 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Ramsey safe?
Ramsey is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $266 per resident a year.
Compare Ramsey with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ramsey. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ramsey 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.
Ramsey detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ramsey: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ramsey: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ramsey: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ramsey: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ramsey 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.