Best PlacesSouth Elgin, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Elgin, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
South Elgin ranks 3,358th 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 Elgin
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 Elgin's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Elgin ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
Where South Elgin ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,380 a month, better than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Elgin
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Elgin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $132,197, 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 Elgin's effective rate of 2.21%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Elgin
South Elgin'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 South Elgin.
Who works in South Elgin, and how
Work in South Elgin 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 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in South Elgin
South Elgin has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns and more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of South Elgin and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Elgin, month by month
South Elgin sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of South Elgin
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 21 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around South Elgin
Schools across South Elgin average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ferson Creek SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Wild Rose Elem SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Corron Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thompson Middle SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Wredling Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Prairie Knolls Middle SchB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- St Charles North High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- St Charles East High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- South Elgin High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Elgin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Elgin 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 Elgin against the other 50,332 towns.
Who South Elgin suits
Families
Schools land around the 42nd percentile and crime safety beats 69%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in South Elgin
Is South Elgin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Elgin ranks 3,358th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, few empty homes, and cell coverage, 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 Elgin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $359,520. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $132,197 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is South Elgin safe?
Yes, South Elgin is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $200 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in South Elgin?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 18. That works out to about 99 pleasant days a year, more than 67% of towns.
Is South Elgin good for families?
Schools beat 42% of towns, crime safety beats 69%, and childcare runs $1,380 a month.
Compare South Elgin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Elgin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Elgin 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 Elgin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Elgin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Elgin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Elgin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Elgin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Elgin 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.