Best PlacesWendelin, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wendelin, 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.
Wendelin ranks 25,906th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wendelin
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.
Wendelin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wendelin ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 81% of towns
Where Wendelin ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 57 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wendelin
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wendelin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,429, 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 Wendelin's effective rate of 1.58%, 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 Wendelin
Wendelin'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 Wendelin.
Who works in Wendelin, and how
Work in Wendelin centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Wendelin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wendelin.
What the weather is like in Wendelin, month by month
Wendelin sees roughly 57 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 | 67° | 55° | 46° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Wendelin
The nearest airport, Decatur, is about 71 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 113 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wendelin
Schools across Wendelin average a C−, better than 27% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Jasper Co Jr HighB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Newton Comm High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wendelin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wendelin 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 Wendelin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wendelin
Is Wendelin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wendelin ranks 25,906th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, few empty homes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on a weak job market and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wendelin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,304. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $91,429 median income, cost of living beats 86% of towns.
Is Wendelin safe?
Wendelin is safer than 27% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $309 per resident a year.
Compare Wendelin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wendelin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wendelin 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.
Wendelin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wendelin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wendelin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wendelin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wendelin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wendelin 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.