Best PlacesStonefort, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stonefort, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Stonefort ranks 33,742nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stonefort
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.
Stonefort's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stonefort ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 72% of towns
Where Stonefort ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 51 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- School gradeD−, better 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 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stonefort
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stonefort home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,822, 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 Stonefort's effective rate of 1.55%, 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 Stonefort
Stonefort'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 Stonefort.
Who works in Stonefort, and how
Work in Stonefort centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Stonefort
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stonefort.
What the weather is like in Stonefort, month by month
Stonefort sees roughly 51 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 46° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Stonefort
The nearest airport, Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stonefort
Schools across Stonefort average a D−, better than 3% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Simpson Hill Dist 32D+ · 25% proficient
- Adams SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- Crab Orchard Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marion Jr High SchoolD · 24% proficient
- Harrisburg Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Egyptian Jr High SchoolF · 4% proficient
Top high schools
- Vienna High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Marion High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- Egyptian Sr High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stonefort school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stonefort 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 Stonefort against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stonefort
Is Stonefort a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stonefort ranks 33,742nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and low crime, and lowest on the weather and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stonefort expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,579. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $82,822 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Stonefort safe?
Yes, Stonefort is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $156 per resident a year.
Compare Stonefort with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stonefort. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stonefort 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.
Stonefort detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stonefort: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stonefort: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stonefort: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stonefort: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stonefort 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.