Best PlacesTimberlane, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Timberlane, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Timberlane ranks 7,640th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Timberlane
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.
Timberlane's strengths and weaknesses
Where Timberlane ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
Where Timberlane ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,112 a month, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Timberlane
A household needs to earn about $103,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Timberlane home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $105,394, 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 Timberlane's effective rate of 2.05%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Timberlane
Timberlane's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Timberlane.
Who works in Timberlane, and how
Work in Timberlane centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Timberlane
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Timberlane.
What the weather is like in Timberlane, month by month
Timberlane sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 24° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Timberlane
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Timberlane
Schools across Timberlane average a D, better than 7% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Seth Whitman Elem SchC− · 28% proficient
- Poplar Grove Elem SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Caledonia Elem SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Boone Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Belvidere Central Middle SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Belvidere North High SchC− · 30% proficient
- North Boone High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Timberlane school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Timberlane 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 Timberlane against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Timberlane
Is Timberlane a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Timberlane ranks 7,640th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, population health, and civic engagement, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Timberlane expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $337,839. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $105,394 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Timberlane safe?
Yes, Timberlane is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $127 per resident a year.
Compare Timberlane with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Timberlane. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Timberlane 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.
Timberlane detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Timberlane: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Timberlane: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Timberlane: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Timberlane: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Timberlane 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.