Best PlacesWest Brooklyn, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Brooklyn, 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.
West Brooklyn ranks 36,499th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Internet speeds pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on big-city access.
The best neighborhoods in West Brooklyn
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.
West Brooklyn's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Brooklyn ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 86% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- QuietBetter than 76% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 74% of towns
Where West Brooklyn ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Short commute41.0 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Brooklyn
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Brooklyn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,211, 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 West Brooklyn's effective rate of 1.86%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in West Brooklyn
West Brooklyn runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for West Brooklyn.
Who works in West Brooklyn, and how
Work in West Brooklyn centers on manufacturing and wholesale trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in West Brooklyn
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Brooklyn.
What the weather is like in West Brooklyn, month by month
West Brooklyn sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of West Brooklyn
The nearest airport, Chicago/Rockford International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Brooklyn
Schools across West Brooklyn average a D, better than 7% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Amboy Central Elem SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Ashton-franklin Center Elem SchD · 20% proficient
- Paw Paw Elem SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northbrook SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Amboy Jr High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Indian Creek High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Amboy High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Rochelle Twp High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Brooklyn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Brooklyn 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 West Brooklyn against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Brooklyn
Is West Brooklyn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Brooklyn ranks 36,499th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, civic engagement, and state infrastructure, and lowest on internet speeds and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Brooklyn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $184,666. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $77,211 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is West Brooklyn safe?
West Brooklyn is safer than 46% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $245 per resident a year.
Compare West Brooklyn with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Brooklyn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Brooklyn 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.
West Brooklyn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Brooklyn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Brooklyn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Brooklyn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Brooklyn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Brooklyn 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.