Best PlacesStark County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stark County, 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.
Stark County ranks 1,968th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stark 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.
Stark County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stark County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- QuietBetter than 89% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 80% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 76% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
Where Stark County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stark County
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stark County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,885, 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 Stark County's effective rate of 1.60%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stark County
Stark County 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 Stark County.
Who works in Stark County, and how
Work in Stark County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Stark County
Stark County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Stark County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Stark County growing, and who is moving in?
Stark County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Peoria, IL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stark County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stark County, month by month
Stark County sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Stark County
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 115 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stark County
Schools across Stark County average a D, better than 7% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bradford Grade SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Williamsfield Elem SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Stark County Elem SchD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Williamsfield Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Bradford Jr High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Stark County Junior High SchoolF · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Wethersfield Jr/sr High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Stark County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Williamsfield High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stark County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stark 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 Stark County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Stark County
Is Stark County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stark County ranks 1,968th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, quiet, and civic engagement, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stark County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $106,489. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $71,885 median income, cost of living beats 70% of counties.
Is Stark County safe?
Stark County is safer than 33% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $296 per resident a year.
Compare Stark County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stark County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stark 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.
Stark County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stark County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stark County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stark County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stark County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stark 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.