Best PlacesWater Valley, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Water Valley, 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.
Water Valley ranks 43,388th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Water Valley
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.
Water Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Water Valley ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 85% of towns
Where Water Valley ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Water Valley
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Water Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,315, 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 Water Valley's effective rate of 1.14%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Water Valley
Water Valley runs older 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 Water Valley.
Who works in Water Valley, and how
Work in Water Valley centers on public administration and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Water Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Water Valley.
What the weather is like in Water Valley, month by month
Water Valley sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 69° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Water Valley
The nearest airport, Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 104 miles away.
The best schools in and around Water Valley
Schools across Water Valley average a D, better than 6% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Giant City Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Lick Creek Elem SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Cobden Elem SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cobden Jr High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Carbondale Comm H SC · 31% proficient
- Cobden High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Anna-jonesboro High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Water Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Water Valley 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 Water Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Water Valley
Is Water Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Water Valley ranks 43,388th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, few empty homes, and a stable housing market, 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 Water Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $121,106. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $77,315 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Water Valley safe?
Water Valley is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $606 per resident a year.
Compare Water Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Water Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Water Valley 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.
Water Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Water Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Water Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Water Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Water Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Water Valley 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.