Best PlacesStephenson County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stephenson 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.
Stephenson County ranks 2,005th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Property taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on big-city access.
The best neighborhoods in Stephenson 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 Stephenson County
The parts of Stephenson 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.
Davis
It is quieter, crime runs lower, and incomes run higher.
Lena
Freeport
More households have young kids and biking is better.
Scores across Stephenson County run from about the 2nd to the 75th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Stephenson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stephenson County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 79% of counties
- Short commute20.7 minutes each way, better than 74% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 74% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
Where Stephenson County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stephenson County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stephenson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,594, 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 Stephenson County's effective rate of 2.17%, 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 Stephenson County
Stephenson 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 Stephenson County.
Who works in Stephenson County, and how
Work in Stephenson County 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 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Stephenson County
Stephenson County has more parkland per resident than 80% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Stephenson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Stephenson County growing, and who is moving in?
Stephenson County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stephenson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stephenson County, month by month
Stephenson County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 22° | 16° |
| April | 59° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 63° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Stephenson County
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stephenson County
Schools across Stephenson County average a D, better than 6% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Eastland Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Durand Elem SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Warren Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lena-winslow Jr High SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Pecatonica Comm Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Winnebago Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Pecatonica High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Dakota Jr Sr High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Durand High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stephenson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stephenson 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 Stephenson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Stephenson County suits
Families
Schools land around the 6th percentile and crime safety beats 57%.
Common questions about living in Stephenson County
Is Stephenson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stephenson County ranks 2,005th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on property 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 Stephenson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $138,069. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $68,594 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Stephenson County safe?
Yes, Stephenson County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $266 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stephenson County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 29 with lows near 16. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Stephenson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Davis, Lena, and Freeport. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Stephenson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stephenson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stephenson 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.
Stephenson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stephenson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stephenson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stephenson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stephenson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stephenson 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.