Best places to live in Illinois
1 Illinois metro scored on the default family weighting — schools and safety heaviest, then affordability, climate, college pipeline and jobs. Change the weights on the ranking engine to see your own order.
Who lives in Illinois
Population-weighted racial and ethnic composition across the 1 tracked Illinois metro, from Census ACS table B03002.
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 49.3%
- Hispanic or Latino
- 24.1%
- Black (non-Hispanic)
- 15.7%
- Asian (non-Hispanic)
- 7.3%
- Other or two or more
- 3.6%
Diversity index 83/100 — how evenly the population is spread across these groups. It is descriptive, not a judgement: weight it up, down or to zero on the ranking engine.
| # | Metro | Score | US rank | Typical home | Schools | Safety | Climate | Diversity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago | 57.8 | #27 of 103 | $360k | 34 | 56 | 19° / 84° | 83 |
Figures are compiled estimates. Methodology and sources.