Best PlacesUrbana, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Urbana, 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.
Urbana ranks 1,824th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Urbana
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.
Urbana's strengths and weaknesses
Where Urbana ranks high
- Short commute14.4 minutes each way, better than 99% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of cities
- BikingBetter than 82% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 80% of cities
Where Urbana ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 1% of cities
- Household income$55,492 median, better than only 4% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Urbana
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Urbana home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $55,492; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Urbana's effective rate of 2.06%, 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 Urbana
Urbana runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Urbana.
Who works in Urbana, and how
Work in Urbana centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 57%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 24%
Life in Urbana
Urbana has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 94% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Urbana and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Urbana, month by month
Urbana sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Urbana
The nearest airport, University of Illinois/Willard, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around Urbana
Schools across Urbana average a D−, better than 1% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- St Joseph Elem SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Carrie Busey Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Unity EastC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- St Joseph Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Prairieview-ogden Jr High SchB · 45% proficient
- Franklin Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- St Joseph-ogden High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Urbana High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Rantoul Twp High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Urbana school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Urbana 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 Urbana against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Urbana suits
Common questions about living in Urbana
Is Urbana a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Urbana ranks 1,824th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, walkability, and cell coverage, and lowest on the schools and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Urbana expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,689. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $55,492 median income, cost of living beats 8% of cities.
Is Urbana safe?
Urbana is safer than 4% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $465 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Urbana?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 21. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of cities.
Is Urbana good for families?
Schools beat 1% of cities, crime safety beats 4%, and childcare runs $1,324 a month.
Compare Urbana with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Urbana. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Urbana 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.
Urbana detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Urbana: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Urbana: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Urbana: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Urbana: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Urbana 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.