Best PlacesRichardson, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Richardson, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Richardson ranks 7,863rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Richardson
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.
Richardson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Richardson ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$122,676 median, better than 94% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 91% of towns
Where Richardson ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,354 a month, better than only 7% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Richardson
A household needs to earn about $117,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Richardson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $122,676, 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 Richardson's effective rate of 2.24%, 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 Richardson
Richardson runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Richardson.
Who works in Richardson, and how
Work in Richardson centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Richardson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Richardson.
What the weather is like in Richardson, month by month
Richardson sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 23° | 17° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Richardson
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 34 miles away.
The best schools in and around Richardson
Schools across Richardson average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lily Lake Grade SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- North Grove Elementary SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Southeast Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Prairie Knolls Middle SchB− · 43% proficient
- Central Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Kaneland Harter Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Central High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Kaneland Senior High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Sycamore High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Richardson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Richardson 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 Richardson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Richardson
Is Richardson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Richardson ranks 7,863rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, what local pay buys, and cell coverage, 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 Richardson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $375,379. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $122,676 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Richardson safe?
Yes, Richardson is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $154 per resident a year.
Compare Richardson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Richardson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Richardson 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.
Richardson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Richardson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Richardson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Richardson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Richardson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Richardson 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.