Best PlacesSeneca, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Seneca, 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.
Seneca ranks 14,803rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Seneca
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.
Seneca's strengths and weaknesses
Where Seneca ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
- BikingBetter than 84% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 84% of towns
Where Seneca 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 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Seneca
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Seneca home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,344, 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 Seneca's effective rate of 1.64%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Seneca
Seneca'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 Seneca.
Who works in Seneca, and how
Work in Seneca centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Seneca
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Seneca.
What the weather is like in Seneca, month by month
Seneca sees roughly 68 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 | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Seneca
Chicago Midway International sits about 55 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Seneca
Schools across Seneca average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Seneca Grade School North CampusC+ · 38% proficient
- Grand Ridge SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Nettle Creek Elem SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Seneca Elem School South CampusC− · 30% proficient
- Shabbona Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Mazon-verona-kinsman Middle SchD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Morris Community High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Seneca High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Newark Comm High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Seneca school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Seneca 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 Seneca against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Seneca
Is Seneca a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Seneca ranks 14,803rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, civic engagement, and walkability, 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 Seneca expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $252,498. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $87,344 median income, cost of living beats 74% of towns.
Is Seneca safe?
Yes, Seneca is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $171 per resident a year.
Compare Seneca with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Seneca. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Seneca 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.
Seneca detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Seneca: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Seneca: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Seneca: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Seneca: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Seneca 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.