Best PlacesWhiteside County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Whiteside County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Whiteside County ranks 1,669th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. State finances pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Whiteside County
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.
The best areas in Whiteside County
The parts of Whiteside County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Fulton & Morrison
More residents vote.
Prophetstown
It is quieter, though more homes sit empty.
Erie
More households have young kids, though biking is worse.
Sterling & Rock Falls
Streets are more walkable, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Whiteside County run from about the 2nd to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Whiteside County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Whiteside County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 81% of counties
- BikingBetter than 80% of counties
Where Whiteside County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Whiteside County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Whiteside County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,159, 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 Whiteside County's effective rate of 1.82%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Whiteside County
Whiteside County 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 Whiteside County.
Who works in Whiteside County, and how
Work in Whiteside County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Whiteside County
Whiteside County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of counties and more parkland per resident than 92% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Whiteside County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Whiteside County growing, and who is moving in?
Whiteside County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lee County, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Whiteside County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Whiteside County, month by month
Whiteside County sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 24° | 17° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 39° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Whiteside County
The nearest airport, Quad Cities International, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago O'Hare International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Whiteside County
Schools across Whiteside County average a D+, better than 11% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Chadwick-milledgeville Elem SchC+ · 38% proficient
- Erie Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Prophetstown Elem SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Erie Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Aplington Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Bureau Valley Elem And JhC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Chadwick-milledgeville Jr HsC · 33% proficient
- Fulton High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Erie High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Whiteside County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Whiteside County 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 Whiteside County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Whiteside County suits
Families
Schools land around the 11th percentile and crime safety beats 60%.
Common questions about living in Whiteside County
Is Whiteside County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Whiteside County ranks 1,669th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, big-city access, and walkability, and lowest on state finances and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Whiteside County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $138,804. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $71,159 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Whiteside County safe?
Yes, Whiteside County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $244 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Whiteside County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 17. That works out to about 83 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Whiteside County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fulton & Morrison, Prophetstown, and Erie. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Whiteside County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Whiteside County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Whiteside County 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.
Whiteside County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Whiteside County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Whiteside County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Whiteside County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Whiteside County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Whiteside County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.