Best PlacesUniversity Park, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around University Park, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
University Park ranks 38,838th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in University Park
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.
University Park's strengths and weaknesses
Where University Park ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 96% of towns
- BikingBetter than 95% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of towns
Where University Park ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,342 a month, better than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in University Park
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median University Park home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,295, 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 University Park's effective rate of 2.43%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in University Park
University Park runs younger than the country, 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 University Park.
Who works in University Park, and how
Work in University Park centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in University Park
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across University Park.
What the weather is like in University Park, month by month
University Park sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of University Park
Chicago Midway International sits about 24 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around University Park
Schools across University Park average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Coretta Scott King Magnet SchD− · 11% proficient
- Monee Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
- Crete Elementary SchoolF · 4% proficient
Top middle schools
- O W Huth Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Crete-monee Middle SchoolD− · 13% proficient
- Columbia Central SchoolF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Crete-monee High SchoolF · 11% proficient
- Bloom Trail High SchoolF · 10% proficient
- Rich Township High SchoolF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every University Park school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
University Park 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 University Park against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in University Park
Is University Park a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, University Park ranks 38,838th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, cell coverage, and transit, and lowest on property taxes and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is University Park expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $192,340. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $83,295 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is University Park safe?
University Park is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $393 per resident a year.
Compare University Park with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to University Park. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in University Park 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.
University Park detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for University Park: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in University Park: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of University Park: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in University Park: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
University Park 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.