Best PlacesWilliamson County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Williamson County, 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.
Williamson County ranks 1,876th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Williamson 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 Williamson County
The parts of Williamson 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.
Carterville
More households have young kids, more adults hold degrees, and crime runs lower.
Creal Springs
Incomes run higher, though more homes sit empty.
Marion
It is noisier and fewer residents vote.
Herrin & Johnston City
Prices have run up less, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Williamson County run from about the 8th to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Williamson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Williamson County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 79% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 78% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 72% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
Where Williamson 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 6% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,030 a month, better than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Williamson County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Williamson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,489, 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 Williamson County's effective rate of 1.56%, 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 Williamson County
Williamson 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 Williamson County.
Who works in Williamson County, and how
Work in Williamson County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Williamson County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Williamson County.
Is Williamson County growing, and who is moving in?
Williamson County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jackson County, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Williamson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Williamson County, month by month
Williamson County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 27° |
| April | 68° | 57° | 47° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Williamson County
The nearest airport, Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 102 miles away.
The best schools in and around Williamson County
Schools across Williamson County average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Giant City Elem SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Washington Elem SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Tri-c Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carterville Jr High SchC+ · 37% proficient
- Carterville Intermediate SchC · 35% proficient
- Herrin Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Carterville High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Carbondale Comm H SC · 31% proficient
- Herrin High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Williamson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Williamson 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 Williamson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Williamson County suits
Families
Schools land around the 14th percentile and crime safety beats 79%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Williamson County
Is Williamson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Williamson County ranks 1,876th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, low crime, and a stable housing market, 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 Williamson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $165,175. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $68,489 median income, cost of living beats 66% of counties.
Is Williamson County safe?
Yes, Williamson County is safer than 79% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Williamson County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 27. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Williamson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Carterville, Creal Springs, and Marion. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Williamson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Williamson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Williamson 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.
Williamson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Williamson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Williamson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Williamson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Williamson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Williamson 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.