Best PlacesSavanna, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Savanna, 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.
Savanna ranks 46,375th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Savanna
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.
Savanna's strengths and weaknesses
Where Savanna ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
- Short commute21.0 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 68% of towns
Where Savanna ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 3% of towns
- 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
- Household income$48,224 median, better than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Savanna
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Savanna home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,224, 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 Savanna's effective rate of 1.70%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Savanna
Savanna 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 Savanna.
Who works in Savanna, and how
Work in Savanna centers on manufacturing and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Savanna
Savanna has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Savanna and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Savanna, month by month
Savanna sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 23° | 17° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Savanna
The nearest airport, Dubuque Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Savanna
Schools across Savanna average a D−, better than 3% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- River Ridge Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- West Carroll PrimaryD− · 13% proficient
Top middle schools
- River Ridge Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- West Carroll Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- River Ridge High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- West Carroll High SchoolF · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Savanna school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Savanna 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 Savanna against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Savanna
Is Savanna a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Savanna ranks 46,375th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, biking, and short commutes, and lowest on the schools and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Savanna expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $94,856. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $48,224 median income, cost of living beats 16% of towns.
Is Savanna safe?
Savanna is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $337 per resident a year.
Compare Savanna with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Savanna. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Savanna 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.
Savanna detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Savanna: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Savanna: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Savanna: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Savanna: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Savanna 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.