Best PlacesWestervelt, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Westervelt, 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.
Westervelt ranks 31,786th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Westervelt
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.
Westervelt's strengths and weaknesses
Where Westervelt ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 79% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 72% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 70% of towns
Where Westervelt ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Westervelt
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Westervelt home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,513, 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 Westervelt's effective rate of 1.18%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Westervelt
Westervelt 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 Westervelt.
Who works in Westervelt, and how
Work in Westervelt centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Westervelt
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Westervelt.
What the weather is like in Westervelt, month by month
Westervelt sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 29° | 22° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 87° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Westervelt
The nearest airport, Decatur, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around Westervelt
Schools across Westervelt average a D+, better than 11% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Okaw Valley Elementary SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Moulton Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Okaw Valley Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Shelbyville High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
- Okaw Valley High SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Westervelt school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Westervelt 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 Westervelt against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Westervelt
Is Westervelt a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Westervelt ranks 31,786th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, a stable housing market, and state infrastructure, 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 Westervelt expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,385. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $76,513 median income, cost of living beats 60% of towns.
Is Westervelt safe?
Yes, Westervelt is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $142 per resident a year.
Compare Westervelt with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Westervelt. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Westervelt 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.
Westervelt detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Westervelt: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Westervelt: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Westervelt: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Westervelt: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Westervelt 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.