Best PlacesRiver Grove, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around River Grove, 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.
River Grove ranks 29,892nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in River Grove
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 Grove's strengths and weaknesses
Where River Grove ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of towns
Where River Grove ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 51 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in River Grove
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median River Grove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,718, 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 River Grove's effective rate of 1.50%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in River Grove
River Grove'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 Grove.
Who works in River Grove, and how
Work in River Grove centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in River Grove
River Grove has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of towns and more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of River Grove and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in River Grove, month by month
River Grove sees roughly 51 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 Grove
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 5 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 Grove
Schools across River Grove average a D+, better than 10% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- River Grove Elem SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- Elmwood Elem SchoolD · 18% proficient
- Rhodes Elem SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Elm Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Elmwood Park High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- East Leyden High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every River Grove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
River Grove 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 Grove against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in River Grove
Is River Grove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, River Grove ranks 29,892nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and big-city access, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is River Grove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $248,650. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $73,718 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is River Grove safe?
River Grove is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
Compare River Grove with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to River Grove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in River Grove 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 Grove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for River Grove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in River Grove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of River Grove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in River Grove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
River Grove 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.