Best PlacesWheaton, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wheaton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wheaton ranks 268th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wheaton
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.
Wheaton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wheaton ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of cities
Where Wheaton ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,560 a month, better than only 11% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Wheaton
A household needs to earn about $145,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wheaton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $137,854; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Wheaton's effective rate of 2.00%, 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 Wheaton
Wheaton'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 Wheaton.
Who works in Wheaton, and how
Work in Wheaton centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Wheaton
Wheaton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wheaton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wheaton, month by month
Wheaton sees roughly 97 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 25° | 18° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Wheaton
Chicago O'Hare International sits about 13 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 40.8 million passengers in 2025, with 305 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Wheaton
Schools across Wheaton average a B, better than 58% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Longfellow Elem SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Lincoln Elem SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Whittier Elem SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hadley Junior High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Franklin Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Benjamin Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Naperville North High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Glenbard West High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Wheaton North High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wheaton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wheaton 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 Wheaton against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Wheaton suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 25% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 58% of cities and health care access beats 86%.
Common questions about living in Wheaton
Is Wheaton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wheaton ranks 268th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and heat safety, 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 Wheaton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $475,376. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $137,854 median income, cost of living beats 87% of cities.
Is Wheaton safe?
Yes, Wheaton is safer than 67% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $206 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wheaton?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 18. That works out to about 97 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of cities.
Is Wheaton good for families?
Schools beat 58% of cities, crime safety beats 67%, and childcare runs $1,560 a month.
Compare Wheaton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wheaton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wheaton 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.
Wheaton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wheaton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wheaton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wheaton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wheaton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wheaton 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.