Some of you might be asking yourself, at this very moment, is Illinois a good place?
The answer is unequivocally yes… if you know where to locate the best counties to live in Illinois.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you identify the best counties to live in the Prairie State based on the most recently available data from the Census. And this isn’t our first rodeo — we’ve been using Saturday Night Science to rank places for years.
The question becomes if you wanted to relocate to the best part of Illinois, where would you go? To answer that, we looked at crime, cost of living, and demographic data for all 102 counties in the state.
Monroe County is the county to be when it comes to living the good life in Illinois. And you should avoid Alexander County if you can — at least according to the data.
$102,880 median income · 1.9% unemployment
$94,811 median income · 2.8% unemployment
$93,203 median income · 3.2% unemployment
$111,601 median income · 4.3% unemployment
$82,176 median income · 3.5% unemployment
$92,235 median income · 4.6% unemployment
$75,590 median income · 4.2% unemployment
$104,802 median income · 4.7% unemployment
$91,483 median income · 3.5% unemployment
$86,588 median income · 3.4% unemployment
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Illinois’s statewide median.
Illinois statewide median: $83,390
Illinois statewide median: $285,736
Illinois statewide median: 5.8%
On the map
Where Illinois’s best counties are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How do you determine which Illinois county is the best?
To give you the best county in Illinois, we have to look at a handful of metrics that signal the quality of a place. To do that, we made assumptions about what’s in a “best county” and what isn’t. For reference, we are trying to make the kind of argument you’d make at a bar using facts, Saturday Night Science.
With that in mind, we went to two of the best data sources on the internet. Namely, the American Community Survey data and FBI Crime data for the most recent period.
We paid particular attention to:
- Violent Crime Rates
- Property Crime Rates
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Unemployment Rates
- Adult Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We then ranked each county in Illinois across each of the criteria from one to 102, with one being the best.
Taking the average rank across all criteria, we created a quality of life score with the county posting the lowest overall score being the “Best County To Live In Illinois.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and best counties to raise a family in the Prairie State.
We updated this article for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the best counties to live in Illinois.
Read on to see why Monroe County is the best county, while Alexander County is probably in contention for being the worst county in Illinois.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Best Counties In Illinois
Click any column to sort. Search by county name.
| Rank | County | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monroe County | 35,036 | $102,880 | $325,385 |
| 2 | Piatt County | 16,695 | $94,811 | $215,218 |
| 3 | Calhoun County | 4,330 | $93,203 | $191,064 |
| 4 | Kendall County | 137,675 | $111,601 | $389,876 |
| 5 | Menard County | 12,095 | $82,176 | $199,170 |
| 6 | Grundy County | 53,219 | $92,235 | $315,211 |
| 6 | Putnam County | 5,601 | $75,590 | $179,202 |
| 8 | McHenry County | 312,591 | $104,802 | $357,917 |
| 9 | Woodford County | 38,312 | $91,483 | $221,363 |
| 10 | Clinton County | 36,954 | $86,588 | $217,319 |
| 11 | McLean County | 171,556 | $79,905 | $251,617 |
| 12 | Shelby County | 20,720 | $72,095 | $161,882 |
| 14 | Mercer County | 15,495 | $74,182 | $163,935 |
| 14 | Jo Daviess County | 21,851 | $73,993 | $247,009 |
| 14 | Tazewell County | 130,290 | $77,982 | $183,602 |
| 16 | Jersey County | 21,274 | $80,361 | $196,452 |
| 17 | DuPage County | 930,024 | $112,096 | $432,425 |
| 18 | Effingham County | 34,522 | $80,404 | $211,543 |
| 19 | Will County | 701,462 | $109,984 | $366,080 |
| 20 | Washington County | 13,627 | $78,224 | $157,367 |
| 21 | Cumberland County | 10,334 | $73,327 | $160,742 |
| 22 | De Witt County | 15,373 | $71,678 | $141,403 |
| 23 | Henry County | 48,643 | $71,911 | $163,773 |
| 24 | Sangamon County | 194,947 | $75,357 | $190,360 |
| 25 | Ogle County | 51,495 | $82,132 | $218,880 |
| 26 | Madison County | 264,238 | $75,793 | $193,117 |
| 27 | Clark County | 15,266 | $72,927 | $139,900 |
| 28 | Adams County | 64,754 | $66,220 | $177,656 |
| 29 | Jasper County | 9,180 | $74,755 | $168,590 |
| 30 | Macoupin County | 44,350 | $70,805 | $134,474 |
| 30 | Lake County | 714,223 | $110,416 | $384,534 |
| 32 | Brown County | 6,322 | $67,917 | $152,417 |
| 33 | Marshall County | 11,647 | $71,585 | $134,025 |
| 34 | Logan County | 27,713 | $66,358 | $136,794 |
| 35 | Livingston County | 35,565 | $73,790 | $163,480 |
| 36 | LaSalle County | 108,714 | $73,045 | $175,696 |
| 37 | Pope County | 3,739 | $60,050 | $150,792 |
| 38 | Lee County | 33,869 | $70,292 | $174,240 |
| 39 | Kane County | 517,255 | $103,163 | $373,804 |
| 40 | Bond County | 16,716 | $65,959 | $162,558 |
| 41 | Champaign County | 208,741 | $63,683 | $231,346 |
| 42 | Douglas County | 19,751 | $77,320 | $154,287 |
| 43 | St. Clair County | 253,694 | $73,854 | $195,663 |
| 44 | Moultrie County | 14,424 | $71,784 | $181,415 |
| 44 | Scott County | 4,937 | $66,705 | $89,289 |
| 46 | Crawford County | 18,511 | $71,674 | $122,029 |
| 47 | Christian County | 33,538 | $62,611 | $128,570 |
| 47 | Hardin County | 3,605 | $54,271 | $98,799 |
| 49 | Whiteside County | 54,947 | $67,500 | $138,238 |
| 50 | Williamson County | 66,876 | $65,604 | $149,240 |
| 51 | Stephenson County | 43,768 | $64,043 | $153,776 |
| 52 | Stark County | 5,308 | $62,878 | $131,532 |
| 53 | Bureau County | 32,866 | $69,257 | $143,492 |
| 54 | Kankakee County | 106,635 | $71,281 | $217,322 |
| 55 | Boone County | 53,230 | $84,571 | $280,540 |
| 56 | Hancock County | 17,281 | $65,865 | $110,782 |
| 57 | DeKalb County | 100,703 | $70,724 | $289,255 |
| 58 | Macon County | 101,849 | $62,666 | $123,099 |
| 59 | Richland County | 15,598 | $62,455 | $133,091 |
| 60 | Cook County | 5,182,090 | $83,498 | $326,039 |
| 61 | Mason County | 12,745 | $62,845 | $92,676 |
| 61 | Greene County | 11,683 | $62,192 | $101,093 |
| 63 | Montgomery County | 27,942 | $63,620 | $121,155 |
| 64 | Warren County | 16,447 | $67,385 | $112,082 |
| 65 | Morgan County | 33,021 | $66,306 | $128,347 |
| 66 | Carroll County | 15,576 | $60,758 | $156,363 |
| 67 | Iroquois County | 26,449 | $66,255 | $149,561 |
| 68 | Ford County | 13,406 | $62,439 | $150,970 |
| 69 | Pike County | 14,469 | $59,777 | $113,376 |
| 70 | Wabash County | 11,119 | $57,086 | $119,814 |
| 71 | Henderson County | 6,193 | $62,227 | $122,063 |
| 72 | Randolph County | 30,058 | $68,131 | $153,971 |
| 73 | Peoria County | 179,645 | $65,108 | $156,125 |
| 74 | Jefferson County | 36,550 | $63,118 | $134,910 |
| 75 | Cass County | 12,784 | $68,125 | $96,603 |
| 75 | Rock Island County | 142,757 | $67,159 | $151,236 |
| 77 | Johnson County | 13,376 | $62,528 | $189,505 |
| 77 | Winnebago County | 283,292 | $65,837 | $202,626 |
| 79 | Fulton County | 33,020 | $60,599 | $95,759 |
| 80 | Edgar County | 16,535 | $59,941 | $98,376 |
| 81 | Knox County | 49,046 | $57,030 | $111,709 |
| 82 | Hamilton County | 7,916 | $65,746 | $110,772 |
| 82 | Perry County | 20,639 | $62,118 | $104,883 |
| 84 | Massac County | 13,865 | $65,116 | $112,646 |
| 85 | Fayette County | 21,315 | $60,944 | $142,741 |
| 86 | Clay County | 13,052 | $60,417 | $107,024 |
| 87 | Schuyler County | 6,787 | $65,948 | $145,816 |
| 87 | White County | 13,619 | $54,813 | $104,282 |
| 89 | Union County | 16,997 | $55,728 | $150,462 |
| 90 | Wayne County | 15,973 | $55,521 | $121,052 |
| 91 | Edwards County | 6,075 | $60,519 | $115,421 |
| 92 | Vermilion County | 72,386 | $56,877 | $95,715 |
| 93 | Pulaski County | 5,015 | $42,463 | $69,792 |
| 94 | Marion County | 37,000 | $61,240 | $117,481 |
| 95 | Gallatin County | 4,819 | $59,219 | $79,256 |
| 96 | McDonough County | 26,920 | $52,795 | $92,986 |
| 97 | Jackson County | 53,064 | $48,763 | $123,804 |
| 98 | Coles County | 46,777 | $56,478 | $140,128 |
| 99 | Saline County | 23,213 | $53,117 | $84,756 |
| 100 | Lawrence County | 15,031 | $55,324 | $95,312 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS + FBI crime data via Saturday Night Science. All 102 Illinois counties.
Summary
Summary: The Best Counties In Illinois To Call Home For 2026
Living in Illinois can vary from one part of the state to the next — who woulda thought?
The best counties in Illinois are Monroe County, Piatt County, Calhoun County, Kendall County, Menard County, Grundy County, Putnam County, McHenry County, Woodford County, and Clinton County.
But now you know the outstanding parts and the parts to avoid, and that’s why you came here to learn at the end of the day.
You are welcome. Not sold on Illinois? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Best Counties In Illinois FAQs
What is the best county to live in Illinois?
Monroe County is the best county to live in Illinois for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Piatt County and Calhoun County are next.
What are the best counties in Illinois?
The best counties to live in Illinois are Monroe County, Piatt County, Calhoun County, Kendall County, Menard County, Grundy County, Putnam County, McHenry County, Woodford County, and Clinton County. We ranked all 102 Illinois counties.
How do you rank the best counties?
Counties are scored on crime, home values, income, unemployment, education, insurance coverage, and poverty, using Census American Community Survey and FBI data. The county with the best average across all seven, Monroe County, wins.
How expensive is it to live in Monroe County?
The median household income in Monroe County is $102,880 and the median home costs $325,385. Statewide, the typical Illinois home runs $285,736.
Which county in Illinois should you think twice about?
Alexander County lands at the bottom of the quality-of-life ranking for Illinois. People make good lives there anyway; the numbers just say it is the toughest of the 102 counties.
