Best PlacesSouth Jacksonville, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Jacksonville, 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.
South Jacksonville ranks 36,533rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Jacksonville
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 Jacksonville's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Jacksonville ranks high
- Short commute15.4 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 89% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of towns
Where South Jacksonville ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Jacksonville
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Jacksonville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,154, 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 Jacksonville's effective rate of 1.70%, 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 Jacksonville
South Jacksonville 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 South Jacksonville.
Who works in South Jacksonville, and how
Work in South Jacksonville centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in South Jacksonville
South Jacksonville has more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of South Jacksonville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in South Jacksonville, month by month
South Jacksonville sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of South Jacksonville
The nearest airport, Abraham Lincoln Capital, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 67 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Jacksonville
Schools across South Jacksonville average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Jacksonville SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- Lincoln Elem SchoolD · 20% proficient
- South Jacksonville Elem SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jacksonville Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Jacksonville High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Jacksonville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Jacksonville 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 Jacksonville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Jacksonville
Is South Jacksonville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Jacksonville ranks 36,533rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, fast internet, and a stable housing market, 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 South Jacksonville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $135,769. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $55,154 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is South Jacksonville safe?
South Jacksonville is safer than 50% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
Compare South Jacksonville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Jacksonville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Jacksonville 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 Jacksonville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Jacksonville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Jacksonville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Jacksonville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Jacksonville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Jacksonville 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.