Best PlacesRiver Forest, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around River Forest, 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.
River Forest ranks 1,212th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in River Forest
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.
River Forest's strengths and weaknesses
Where River Forest ranks high
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
Where River Forest ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in River Forest
A household needs to earn about $216,000 a year to comfortably buy the median River Forest home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $164,659, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 River Forest's effective rate of 2.15%, 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 River Forest
River Forest's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for River Forest.
Who works in River Forest, and how
Work in River Forest centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 46%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 29%
Life in River Forest
River Forest has more parkland per resident than 87% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of River Forest and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in River Forest, month by month
River Forest sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of River Forest
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around River Forest
Schools across River Forest average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln Elem SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Willard Elem SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Roosevelt SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Oak Park & River Forest High SchB+ · 57% proficient
- Proviso Math And Science AcademyB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every River Forest school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
River Forest 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 River Forest against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in River Forest
Is River Forest a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, River Forest ranks 1,212th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, biking, and population health, 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 River Forest expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $697,393. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $164,659 median income, cost of living beats 99% of towns.
Is River Forest safe?
River Forest is safer than 15% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $380 per resident a year.
Compare River Forest with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to River Forest. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in River Forest 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.
River Forest detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for River Forest: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in River Forest: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of River Forest: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in River Forest: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
River Forest 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.