Best PlacesTonica, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tonica, 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.
Tonica ranks 14,281st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on a stable housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Tonica
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.
Tonica's strengths and weaknesses
Where Tonica ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of towns
Where Tonica ranks low
- 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 8% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Tonica
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tonica home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,439, 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 Tonica's effective rate of 1.78%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Tonica
Tonica runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tonica.
Who works in Tonica, and how
Work in Tonica centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Tonica
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Tonica.
What the weather is like in Tonica, month by month
Tonica sees roughly 60 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 October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Tonica
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tonica
Schools across Tonica average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Deer Park C C Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Lostant Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Tonica Grade SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Putnam County Jr High SchoolF · 13% proficient
- Washington Elem SchoolF · 13% proficient
Top high schools
- Putnam County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- La Salle-peru Twp High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Ottawa Township High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tonica school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tonica 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 Tonica against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Tonica
Is Tonica a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tonica ranks 14,281st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, walkability, and what local pay buys, and lowest on 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 Tonica expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,690. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $92,439 median income, cost of living beats 87% of towns.
Is Tonica safe?
Yes, Tonica is safer than 61% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $210 per resident a year.
Compare Tonica with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tonica. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tonica 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.
Tonica detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tonica: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tonica: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tonica: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tonica: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tonica 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.