Best PlacesSt. Clair County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in St. Clair County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
St. Clair County ranks 1,704th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the weather and state finances. It does better on transit, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in St. Clair 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.
The best areas in St. Clair County
The parts of St. Clair County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
O'Fallon & Lebanon
Crime runs lower, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Shiloh & Scott AFB
Fewer homes sit empty and more adults hold degrees.
Millstadt
It is quieter and more residents vote.
Mascoutah, Freeburg & New Athens
Schools score higher, though biking is worse.
Fairview Heights, Caseyville & Collinsville
More households have young kids and tree cover is thicker.
Belleville & Swansea
Smithton
Streets are more walkable.
Cahokia
Health care is harder to reach and health outcomes score lower.
East St. Louis
Homes cost less, though heat risk is higher.
St. Clair County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 5%. Pick the area first, then the home.
St. Clair County's strengths and weaknesses
St. Clair County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Transit, what local pay buys, and biking carry most of that.
The one real hole is the weather, near the bottom of the country. State finances and taxes also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where St. Clair County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 93% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of counties
- BikingBetter than 88% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 85% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of counties
Where St. Clair County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in St. Clair County
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Clair County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,522, 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 St. Clair County's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in St. Clair County
St. Clair County'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 St. Clair County.
Who works in St. Clair County, and how
Work in St. Clair County centers on health care & social and retail trade. 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 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in St. Clair County
St. Clair County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 91% of counties and more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Clair County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is St. Clair County growing, and who is moving in?
St. Clair County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the St Louis, MO metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving St. Clair County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in St. Clair County, month by month
St. Clair County sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 89° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of St. Clair County
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 25 miles away.
The best schools in and around St. Clair County
Schools across St. Clair County average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- J Emmett Hinchcliffe Sr Elem SchB+ · 53% proficient
- Scott Elem SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Smithton Elem SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Athens Jr HighB+ · 48% proficient
- Wolf Branch Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Mascoutah Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Columbia High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Mascoutah High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- O Fallon High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Clair County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Clair 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 St. Clair County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who St. Clair County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in St. Clair County
Is St. Clair County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Clair County ranks 1,704th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, what local pay buys, and biking, and lowest on the weather and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is St. Clair County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,130. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $82,522 median income, cost of living beats 90% of counties.
Is St. Clair County safe?
St. Clair County is safer than 20% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $420 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Clair County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 25. That works out to about 55 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in St. Clair County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are O'Fallon & Lebanon, Shiloh & Scott AFB, and Millstadt. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is St. Clair County good for families?
Schools beat 14% of counties, crime safety beats 20%, and childcare runs $956 a month.
Is St. Clair County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 76% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare St. Clair County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Clair County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Clair 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.
St. Clair County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Clair County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Clair County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Clair County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Clair County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Clair 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.