Best PlacesWashington Park, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Washington 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.
Washington Park ranks 50,137th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Washington 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.
Washington Park's strengths and weaknesses
Where Washington Park ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
Where Washington Park ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Washington Park
A household needs to earn about $16,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Washington Park home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,684, 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 Washington Park's effective rate of 1.75%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Washington Park
Washington Park runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Washington Park.
Who works in Washington Park, and how
Work in Washington Park centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Washington Park
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Washington Park.
What the weather is like in Washington Park, month by month
Washington Park sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 70° | 57° | 46° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Washington Park
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 17 miles away.
The best schools in and around Washington Park
Schools across Washington Park average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- James Avant Elementary SchoolF · 4% proficient
- Wyvetter Younge Sch Of ExcellenceF · 3% proficient
Top middle schools
- East St Louis-lincoln Middle SchF · 4% proficient
- Mason/clark Middle SchF · 3% proficient
Top high schools
- East St Louis Senior High SchoolF · 1% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Washington Park school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Washington 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 Washington Park against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Washington Park
Is Washington Park a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Washington Park ranks 50,137th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, transit, and biking, and lowest on the schools and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Washington Park expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $55,536. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $44,684 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Washington Park safe?
Washington Park is safer than 1% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $854 per resident a year.
Compare Washington Park with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Washington Park. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Washington 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.
Washington Park detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Washington Park: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Washington Park: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Washington Park: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Washington Park: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Washington 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.