Best PlacesShelby County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Shelby County, 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.
Shelby County ranks 1,797th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. State finances pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on civic engagement.
The best neighborhoods in Shelby County
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.
Shelby County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shelby County ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 83% of counties
- Short commute20.8 minutes each way, better than 74% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 71% of counties
Where Shelby County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 14% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Shelby County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shelby County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,824, 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 Shelby County's effective rate of 1.39%, 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 Shelby County
Shelby County 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 Shelby County.
Who works in Shelby County, and how
Work in Shelby County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Shelby County
Shelby County has more parkland per resident than 78% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Shelby County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Shelby County growing, and who is moving in?
Shelby County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Christian County, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Shelby County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Shelby County, month by month
Shelby County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Shelby County
The nearest airport, Decatur, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 95 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shelby County
Schools across Shelby County average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Teutopolis Grade SchoolA · 64% proficient
- Main Street Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Beecher City Grade SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Teutopolis Junior High SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Moulton Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Pana Jr High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Teutopolis High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Ramsey High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Sullivan High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shelby County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shelby County 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 Shelby County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Shelby County suits
Families
Schools land around the 14th percentile and crime safety beats 60%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Shelby County
Is Shelby County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shelby County ranks 1,797th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, a stable housing market, and short commutes, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shelby County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $147,783. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $72,824 median income, cost of living beats 58% of counties.
Is Shelby County safe?
Yes, Shelby County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $246 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Shelby County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 25. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of counties.
Is Shelby County good for families?
Schools beat 14% of counties, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $704 a month.
Compare Shelby County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shelby County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shelby County 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.
Shelby County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shelby County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shelby County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shelby County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shelby County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shelby County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.