Best PlacesRidott, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ridott, 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.
Ridott ranks 25,899th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on a strong job market.
The best neighborhoods in Ridott
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.
Ridott's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ridott ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 85% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Household income$86,813 median, better than 73% of towns
Where Ridott ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ridott
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ridott home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,813, 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 Ridott's effective rate of 1.79%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ridott
Ridott runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ridott.
Who works in Ridott, and how
Work in Ridott centers on manufacturing and admin & support services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ridott
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ridott.
What the weather is like in Ridott, month by month
Ridott sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Ridott
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 83 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ridott
Schools across Ridott average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pecatonica Elem SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Forreston Grade SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Dakota Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pecatonica Comm Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Winnebago Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Freeport Middle SchoolF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Pecatonica High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Dakota Jr Sr High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Winnebago High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ridott school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ridott 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 Ridott against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ridott
Is Ridott a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ridott ranks 25,899th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, big-city access, and health care access, 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 Ridott expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $184,868. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $86,813 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Ridott safe?
Yes, Ridott is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $207 per resident a year.
Compare Ridott with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ridott. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ridott 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.
Ridott detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ridott: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ridott: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ridott: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ridott: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ridott 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.