Best PlacesSteward, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Steward, 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.
Steward ranks 21,407th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Internet speeds pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on big-city access.
The best neighborhoods in Steward
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.
Steward's strengths and weaknesses
Where Steward ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
- Household income$102,258 median, better than 86% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 85% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 80% of towns
Where Steward ranks low
- Internet speedBetter 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 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Steward
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Steward home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,258, 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 Steward's effective rate of 1.91%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Steward
Steward runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Steward.
Who works in Steward, and how
Work in Steward centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Steward
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Steward.
What the weather is like in Steward, month by month
Steward sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Steward
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around Steward
Schools across Steward average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Indian Creek Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Creston Elem SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Ashton-franklin Center Elem SchD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Creek Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Northbrook SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Paw Paw Junior High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Indian Creek High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Rochelle Twp High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Mendota Twp High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Steward school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Steward 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 Steward against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Steward
Is Steward a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Steward ranks 21,407th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, high incomes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on internet speeds and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Steward expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $216,291. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $102,258 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is Steward safe?
Yes, Steward is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
Compare Steward with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Steward. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Steward 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.
Steward detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Steward: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Steward: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Steward: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Steward: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Steward 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.