Best PlacesRed Bud, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Red Bud, 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.
Red Bud ranks 17,761st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Red Bud
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.
Red Bud's strengths and weaknesses
Where Red Bud ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of towns
- BikingBetter than 84% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of towns
Where Red Bud ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 48 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Red Bud
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Red Bud home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,967, 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 Red Bud's effective rate of 1.42%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Red Bud
Red Bud's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Red Bud.
Who works in Red Bud, and how
Work in Red Bud centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Red Bud
Red Bud has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns and more parkland per resident than 96% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Red Bud and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Red Bud, month by month
Red Bud sees roughly 48 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Red Bud
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around Red Bud
Schools across Red Bud average a C−, better than 22% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Athens ElemB · 45% proficient
- Gardner Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Red Bud Elem SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Athens Jr HighB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Waterloo High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Red Bud High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- New Athens High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Red Bud school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Red Bud 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 Red Bud against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Red Bud
Is Red Bud a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Red Bud ranks 17,761st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, cell coverage, and few empty homes, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Red Bud expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $193,052. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $81,967 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Red Bud safe?
Yes, Red Bud is safer than 67% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $203 per resident a year.
Compare Red Bud with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Red Bud. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Red Bud 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.
Red Bud detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Red Bud: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Red Bud: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Red Bud: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Red Bud: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Red Bud 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.