Best PlacesRoscoe, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Roscoe, 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.
Roscoe ranks 4,891st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Roscoe
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.
Roscoe's strengths and weaknesses
Where Roscoe ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Household income$108,789 median, better than 89% of towns
Where Roscoe 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$1,095 a month, better than only 16% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Roscoe
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Roscoe home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $108,789, 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 Roscoe's effective rate of 2.32%, 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 Roscoe
Roscoe'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 Roscoe.
Who works in Roscoe, and how
Work in Roscoe centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Roscoe
Roscoe has more parkland per resident than 90% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Roscoe and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Roscoe, month by month
Roscoe sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 24° | 18° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Roscoe
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Roscoe
Schools across Roscoe average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Hill Elem SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Stone Creek SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Kinnikinnick SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thurgood Marshall SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Willowbrook Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Stephen Mack Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Hononegah Chd High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Belvidere North High SchC− · 30% proficient
- Harlem High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Roscoe school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Roscoe 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 Roscoe against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Roscoe
Is Roscoe a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Roscoe ranks 4,891st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, civic engagement, and what local pay buys, 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 Roscoe expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $265,318. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $108,789 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is Roscoe safe?
Yes, Roscoe is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $136 per resident a year.
Compare Roscoe with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Roscoe. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Roscoe 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.
Roscoe detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Roscoe: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Roscoe: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Roscoe: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Roscoe: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Roscoe 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.