Best PlacesSesser, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sesser, 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.
Sesser ranks 37,848th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sesser
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.
Sesser's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sesser ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- BikingBetter than 87% of towns
Where Sesser ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- Short commute32.8 minutes each way, better than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sesser
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sesser home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,533, 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 Sesser's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sesser
Sesser'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 Sesser.
Who works in Sesser, and how
Work in Sesser centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Sesser
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sesser.
What the weather is like in Sesser, month by month
Sesser sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Sesser
The nearest airport, Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sesser
Schools across Sesser average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Du Quoin Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- Sesser-valier Elem SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sesser-valier Jr High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Du Quoin Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Sesser-valier High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Du Quoin High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sesser school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sesser 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 Sesser against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sesser
Is Sesser a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sesser ranks 37,848th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and cell coverage, 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 Sesser expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $102,573. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $58,533 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Sesser safe?
Sesser is safer than 36% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $276 per resident a year.
Compare Sesser with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sesser. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sesser 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.
Sesser detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sesser: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sesser: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sesser: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sesser: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sesser 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.