Best PlacesSaratoga Center, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Saratoga Center, 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.
Saratoga Center ranks 32,286th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Saratoga Center
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.
Saratoga Center's strengths and weaknesses
Where Saratoga Center ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 75% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 71% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 71% of towns
Where Saratoga Center 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 6% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Saratoga Center
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Saratoga Center home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,901, 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 Saratoga Center's effective rate of 1.75%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Saratoga Center
Saratoga Center runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Saratoga Center.
Who works in Saratoga Center, and how
Work in Saratoga Center centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Saratoga Center
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Saratoga Center.
What the weather is like in Saratoga Center, month by month
Saratoga Center sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Saratoga Center
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 101 miles away.
The best schools in and around Saratoga Center
Schools across Saratoga Center average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Henry-senachwine Grade SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Midland Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Midland Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Midland High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Henry-senachwine High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Saratoga Center school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Saratoga Center 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 Saratoga Center against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Saratoga Center
Is Saratoga Center a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Saratoga Center ranks 32,286th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, state infrastructure, and big-city 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 Saratoga Center expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,473. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $78,901 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Saratoga Center safe?
Saratoga Center is safer than 37% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
Compare Saratoga Center with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Saratoga Center. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Saratoga Center 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.
Saratoga Center detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Saratoga Center: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Saratoga Center: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Saratoga Center: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Saratoga Center: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Saratoga Center 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.