Best PlacesSouth Beloit, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Beloit, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
South Beloit ranks 19,712th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Beloit
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.
South Beloit's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Beloit ranks high
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 90% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of towns
Where South Beloit ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Beloit
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Beloit home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,514, 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 South Beloit's effective rate of 2.05%, 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 South Beloit
South Beloit's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 South Beloit.
Who works in South Beloit, and how
Work in South Beloit centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in South Beloit
South Beloit has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of towns and more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of South Beloit and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Beloit, month by month
South Beloit sees roughly 87 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 24° | 18° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of South Beloit
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Mitchell International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Beloit
Schools across South Beloit average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Hill Elem SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Stone Creek SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Kinnikinnick SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Willowbrook Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Stephen Mack Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- South Beloit Jr High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Hononegah Chd High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- South Beloit Sr High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- North Boone High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Beloit school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Beloit 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 South Beloit against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Beloit
Is South Beloit a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Beloit ranks 19,712th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, transit, and big-city access, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Beloit expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,210. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $83,514 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is South Beloit safe?
Yes, South Beloit is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $228 per resident a year.
Compare South Beloit with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Beloit. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Beloit 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.
South Beloit detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Beloit: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Beloit: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Beloit: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Beloit: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Beloit 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.