Best PlacesWoodford County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Woodford 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.
Woodford County ranks 477th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Woodford 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 Woodford County
The parts of Woodford 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.
Metamora & Germantown Hills
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and crime runs lower.
Roanoke
Eureka
More households have young kids, though it is noisier.
El Paso
Minonk
Streets are more walkable, though tree cover is thinner.
Scores across Woodford County run from about the 16th to the 97th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Woodford County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Woodford County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of counties
- Household income$97,805 median, better than 91% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 91% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 89% of counties
Where Woodford County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,151 a month, better than only 10% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Woodford County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Woodford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $97,805, 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 Woodford County's effective rate of 1.88%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Woodford County
Woodford County'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 Woodford County.
Who works in Woodford County, and how
Work in Woodford County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Woodford County
Woodford County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 69% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Woodford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Woodford County growing, and who is moving in?
Woodford County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Peoria, IL metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Woodford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Woodford County, month by month
Woodford County sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Woodford County
The nearest airport, General Downing - Peoria International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Woodford County
Schools across Woodford County average a B−, better than 62% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Germantown Hills Elementary SchA · 63% proficient
- Congerville Elem SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Metamora Grade SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Germantown Hills Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Eureka Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Roanoke-benson Jr High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Eureka High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Metamora High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- El Paso-gridley High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Woodford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Woodford 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 Woodford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Woodford County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Woodford County
Is Woodford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Woodford County ranks 477th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and civic engagement, and lowest on state finances and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Woodford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,454. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $97,805 median income, cost of living beats 93% of counties.
Is Woodford County safe?
Yes, Woodford County is safer than 88% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $198 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Woodford County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 19. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 32% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Woodford County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Metamora & Germantown Hills, Roanoke, and Eureka. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Woodford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Woodford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Woodford 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.
Woodford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Woodford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Woodford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Woodford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Woodford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Woodford 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.