Best PlacesWatson, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Watson, 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.
Watson ranks 29,881st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Watson
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.
Watson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Watson ranks high
- Short commute18.3 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 74% of towns
Where Watson ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Watson
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Watson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,022, 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 Watson's effective rate of 1.22%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Watson
Watson's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Watson.
Who works in Watson, and how
Work in Watson centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Watson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Watson.
What the weather is like in Watson, month by month
Watson sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Watson
The nearest airport, Decatur, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 99 miles away.
The best schools in and around Watson
Schools across Watson average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Dieterich Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Central Grade SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Effingham Junior High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Dieterich Jr/sr High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Effingham High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Watson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Watson 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 Watson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Watson
Is Watson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Watson ranks 29,881st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, few empty homes, and low crime, 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 Watson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,994. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $81,022 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Watson safe?
Yes, Watson is safer than 81% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $165 per resident a year.
Compare Watson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Watson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Watson 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.
Watson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Watson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Watson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Watson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Watson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Watson 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.