Best PlacesWhittington, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Whittington, 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.
Whittington ranks 34,002nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Whittington
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.
Whittington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Whittington ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 85% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 77% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 74% of towns
Where Whittington ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Whittington
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Whittington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,573, 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 Whittington's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Whittington
Whittington'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 Whittington.
Who works in Whittington, and how
Work in Whittington centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Whittington
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Whittington.
What the weather is like in Whittington, month by month
Whittington sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Whittington
The nearest airport, Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Whittington
Schools across Whittington average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ewing-northern Elem SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Sesser-valier Elem SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- Benton Grade Sch K-4D+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benton Grade Sch 5-8D− · 17% proficient
- Sesser-valier Jr High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Top high schools
- Sesser-valier High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Benton Cons High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Whittington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Whittington 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 Whittington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Whittington
Is Whittington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Whittington ranks 34,002nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, a stable housing market, and a strong job market, and lowest on noise and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Whittington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,080. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $74,573 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is Whittington safe?
Yes, Whittington is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $184 per resident a year.
Compare Whittington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Whittington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Whittington 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.
Whittington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Whittington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Whittington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Whittington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Whittington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Whittington 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.