Best PlacesSmithfield, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Smithfield, 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.
Smithfield ranks 41,759th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on a stable housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Smithfield
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.
Smithfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smithfield ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 73% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 67% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 63% of towns
Where Smithfield ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Smithfield
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smithfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,856, 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 Smithfield's effective rate of 1.66%, 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 Smithfield
Smithfield runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Smithfield.
Who works in Smithfield, and how
Work in Smithfield centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Smithfield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Smithfield.
What the weather is like in Smithfield, month by month
Smithfield sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Smithfield
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Smithfield
Schools across Smithfield average a D, better than 7% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Spoon River Valley Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Cuba Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Central Elem SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spoon River Valley Jr High SchC− · 30% proficient
- Cuba Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- V I T Jr High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Spoon River Valley Sr High SchD · 21% proficient
- Cuba Sr High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Lewistown Jr/sr High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smithfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smithfield 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 Smithfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Smithfield
Is Smithfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smithfield ranks 41,759th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, state infrastructure, and civic engagement, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Smithfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $138,629. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $63,856 median income, cost of living beats 41% of towns.
Is Smithfield safe?
Smithfield is safer than 38% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
Compare Smithfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smithfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smithfield 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.
Smithfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smithfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smithfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smithfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smithfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smithfield 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.