The 10 Best Places To Retire In Illinois For 2023


We analyzed over 201 places in Illinois to identify the ones that offer the most to retirees.

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Editor’s Note: Data has been updated for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the best places to retire in Illinois.

What do 1.5 million Illinoisans above the age of 65 know that the rest of America does not? They know that the Land of Lincoln has some of the best places to call home if you are looking to retire.

That's right. There is more to Illinois than da' Bears and a good 'ol fashioned horseshoe, there are super safe, super affordable places for people looking to spend their retirement years in the Midwest. And lucky for you, HomeSnacks has taken the guessing out of the equation: we did the research and created a list of the top ten best places in Illinois to retire for 2023.

How'd we determine the best places to retire in Illinois? Well, we know that when people are searching for the best places to retire, they are also looking for things like convenience and an economy that protects their bottom line; and folks, Illinois' best places to retire have all that and then some. To identify Illinois' top ten, we consulted the numbers. In total, we analyzed 208 cities. We looked at important factors like cost of living, crime, amenities, rent and distance to closest national airport for every place with over 10,000 residents.

We discovered that people in this demographic are starting to move to bigger cities so that they have better access to public transportation, healthcare options, and programs designed especially for them. This trend is happening in Illinois, and this is why we find most of the state's best places to retire centered around Chicago. But, there are other areas in this flyover state that are just great. So definitely give places like Waterloo and Columbia a second look.

So, where are the best places to retire in Illinois? Keep reading.

Why did Palos Hills take the top spot? And where are Chicago and Aurora?

Now, HomeSnacks is not your just your average website. We've had more than 50 million people read our published articles and we've been featured in hundreds of media outlets for our best of the best rankings, including this feature by Patch.com. So, yes, we know what we're talking about.

So, what's the best place to retire in Illinois for 2023? According to the latest data, Palos Hills is the best place to retire in the Prairie State for 2023.

To see how your favorite places in Illinois compared, take a look at the list below; and if you don't see it there, head to the bottom.

For more Illinois state reading:

The 10 Best Places To Retire In Illinois For 2023

Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 18,379
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Rent: $1,161
Distance to Closest Airport: 6 miles
More on Palos Hills: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Palos Hills, IL

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 60,413
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 2)
Median Rent: $1,171
Distance to Closest Airport: 3 miles
More on Des Plaines: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Des Plaines, IL

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 15,855
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 2)
Median Rent: $680
Distance to Closest Airport: 59 miles
More on Dixon: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Dixon, IL

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 30,971
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 6)
Median Rent: $1,148
Distance to Closest Airport: 5 miles
More on Niles: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Niles, IL

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 12,116
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 3)
Median Rent: $1,350
Distance to Closest Airport: 8 miles
More on Palos Heights: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Palos Heights, IL

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 39,562
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)
Median Rent: $1,509
Distance to Closest Airport: 3 miles
More on Park Ridge: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Park Ridge, IL

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 28,506
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 1)
Median Rent: $1,162
Distance to Closest Airport: 11 miles
More on Glen Ellyn: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Glen Ellyn, IL

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 17,148
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 2)
Median Rent: $1,831
Distance to Closest Airport: 9 miles
More on Hinsdale: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Hinsdale, IL

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 19,450
Rank Last Year: 11 (Up 2)
Median Rent: $1,882
Distance to Closest Airport: 18 miles
More on Lake Forest: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Lake Forest, IL

Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 12,658
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 5)
Median Rent: $1,649
Distance to Closest Airport: 12 miles
More on Winnetka: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Winnetka, IL

Methodology: How We Determined The Best Places To Retire In the Prairie State for 2023

To create our list of the best places in Illinois to retire, we first used Census data to find all places in the Prairie State -- 1364 cities and towns.

We then narrowed it down to places with at least 10,000 people that weren't townships. This left us with 208 places from across the state.

For these 208, we looked at the following criteria taken from the Census, the FBI's Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights:

  • Low cost of living as measured by rent
  • Low crime
  • Things to do (Museums, Colleges, and Libraries in town)
  • Nice weather
  • Distance to the closest international airport
  • Other retirees (High median age)

We then ranked each of these places for each criteria from one to 208, with the lowest number being the best.

Finally, we took the average rank across these criteria. The place, in this case Palos Hills, with the lowest average rank was crowned the best of the best, a place for you to start your second careers. You can download the data here.

Summary: Maybe You're Not Ready To Retire In Illinois Yet...

So there you have it, the best place to retire in Illinois goes to Palos Hills.

If you're not ready to hang up your office apparel yet, then these places might be up your alley:

  1. Montgomery
  2. Round Lake Beach
  3. Dekalb

For more Illinois reading, check out:

Where Are The Best Places To Retire In Illinois?

Rank City Population Median Rent
1 Palos Hills 18,379 $1,161
2 Des Plaines 60,413 $1,171
3 Dixon 15,855 $680
4 Niles 30,971 $1,148
5 Palos Heights 12,116 $1,350
6 Park Ridge 39,562 $1,509
7 Glen Ellyn 28,506 $1,162
8 Hinsdale 17,148 $1,831
9 Lake Forest 19,450 $1,882
10 Winnetka 12,658 $1,649

How Is The Area In ?

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.