Best PlacesStark, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stark, 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.
Stark ranks 21,198th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stark
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stark ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
- Household income$101,092 median, better than 85% of towns
Where Stark ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stark
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stark home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,092, 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's effective rate of 1.79%, 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
Stark 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.
Who works in Stark, and how
Work in Stark centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Stark
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stark.
What the weather is like in Stark, month by month
Stark sees roughly 86 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
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stark
Schools across Stark average a D, better than 6% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Princeville Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Stark County Elem SchD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stark County Junior High SchoolF · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Princeville High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Stark County High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stark school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stark 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stark
Is Stark a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stark ranks 21,198th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, a stable housing market, and what local pay buys, and lowest on biking and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stark expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $147,539. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $101,092 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Stark safe?
Stark is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
Compare Stark with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stark. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stark 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stark: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stark: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stark: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stark: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stark 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.