Are you sick of being a city slicker?
Do you long for life in suburban Illinois? Where you can drive an overly-large vehicle to the store for groceries and schlep the kids around to practices and appointments without worrying about a parking space.
We do, too.
If you wanted to move out to the suburbs in Illinois, where would you go? And how would you decide on the ranking factors to help you pick which Illinois suburb was best?
No worries. We got it all figured out here using Saturday Night Science.
$230,255 median income · $863,783 median home price
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Western Springs is a village located in Cook County, Illinois, United States and is a suburb of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 12,975. It is twinned with Rugeley, United Kingdom.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$161,500 median income · $841,446 median home price
Northfield is an affluent village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located approximately 19 miles north of downtown Chicago. It is part of a collection of upscale residential communities north of Chicago that belong to New Trier Township and the greater North Shore. As of the 2010 census, the village’s population was 5,420.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$181,660 median income · $635,444 median home price
Located in
Lake County, Illinois
Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States, approximately 25 miles north of Chicago with a small portion extending into Cook County, Illinois. The population was 18,225 at the 2010 census, a decline of 175 from 2000.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$250,001 median income · $1,244,308 median home price
Located in
DuPage County, Illinois
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$207,434 median income · $787,210 median home price
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Inverness is a suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,399 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$120,008 median income · $501,273 median home price
Located in
DuPage County, Illinois
Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately 30 miles west of Chicago which abuts the shore of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated to have increased to 53,469 by July 2012.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$221,575 median income · $1,108,365 median home price
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$129,395 median income · $436,990 median home price
Located in
Lake County, Illinois
Buffalo Grove is a village in Lake and Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, within the northwest suburbs of Chicago.
As of the 2010 census, the village population was 41,496. Most of the village is located within the 10th Congressional District of Illinois, although the southern portion is represented in the 8th Congressional District.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$120,408 median income · $480,916 median home price
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$248,933 median income · $1,577,965 median home price
Located in
Cook County, Illinois
Glencoe is a village in northeastern Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the total population was 8,723. Glencoe is located on Chicago’s North Shore and is located within the New Trier High School District.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
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
On the map
Where Illinois’s best suburbs are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we crunched the suburb numbers for the Prairie State
We have to use Saturday Night Science and look at several metrics to give you the best suburbs in Illinois. We want to measure the type of place around major cities that people arguing at a bar would say makes it the “best suburb.”
First, we had to define a suburb. Using U.S. Census data produced for the state of Illinois, we looked at every town with at least 5,000 residents, and within 30 miles of a city that’s over 200,000 people.
In other words, suburbs.
We paid particular attention to the following criteria:
- Median Home Values
- Median Income
- Population Density (Higher is Better)
- Unemployment Rates
- Commute Time
- Education Levels
- Health Insurance Coverage
- Poverty Rates
We ranked each suburb in Illinois across these criteria from one to 159, with one being the best.
We then took the average rank across all criteria, with the town posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title “Best Suburb To Live In Illinois.”
The result is some of the safest, quietest, and ideal places to live in Illinois.
Read on to see why Western Springs is the ‘burb with the most, while Markham is probably not the best place to live in Illinois.
The full plate
The Best Suburbs In Illinois
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Income | Median Home Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Springs | 13,446 | $230,255 | $863,783 |
| 2 | Northfield | 5,487 | $161,500 | $841,446 |
| 3 | Deerfield | 19,518 | $181,660 | $635,444 |
| 4 | Hinsdale | 17,175 | $250,001 | $1,244,308 |
| 5 | Inverness | 7,275 | $207,434 | $787,210 |
| 6 | Wheaton | 53,557 | $120,008 | $501,273 |
| 7 | South Barrington | 5,021 | $221,575 | $1,108,365 |
| 8 | Buffalo Grove | 42,891 | $129,395 | $436,990 |
| 9 | La Grange Park | 13,447 | $120,408 | $480,916 |
| 9 | Glencoe | 8,701 | $248,933 | $1,577,965 |
| 11 | Riverside | 9,039 | $153,686 | $547,998 |
| 12 | Winnetka | 12,484 | $250,001 | $1,818,305 |
| 13 | Troy | 11,647 | $112,434 | $324,854 |
| 14 | Highland Park | 30,398 | $168,094 | $751,001 |
| 15 | Northbrook | 34,585 | $157,782 | $688,265 |
| 16 | Lincolnshire | 7,980 | $185,580 | $714,055 |
| 17 | La Grange | 15,998 | $159,929 | $639,655 |
| 18 | Lake Forest | 19,416 | $235,081 | $1,167,578 |
| 19 | Clarendon Hills | 8,659 | $130,388 | $666,351 |
| 20 | Wilmette | 27,503 | $190,662 | $961,183 |
| 21 | Arlington Heights | 76,005 | $116,723 | $470,945 |
| 22 | Park Ridge | 38,667 | $142,986 | $564,905 |
| 23 | Burr Ridge | 11,141 | $156,829 | $828,471 |
| 24 | Winfield | 10,095 | $135,795 | $456,207 |
| 25 | Elmhurst | 45,671 | $149,644 | $613,207 |
| 26 | New Lenox | 28,006 | $140,865 | $440,656 |
| 27 | Itasca | 9,355 | $114,294 | $443,025 |
| 28 | Frankfort | 20,651 | $154,375 | $487,132 |
| 29 | Glen Ellyn | 28,390 | $140,938 | $562,204 |
| 30 | Lisle | 23,407 | $107,479 | $425,025 |
| 31 | Downers Grove | 50,054 | $115,114 | $494,151 |
| 32 | Glenview | 47,752 | $143,056 | $663,147 |
| 33 | Naperville | 150,692 | $155,105 | $610,454 |
| 34 | Lemont | 17,820 | $123,370 | $565,404 |
| 35 | Mokena | 20,021 | $123,889 | $443,959 |
| 36 | Palos Heights | 12,152 | $108,740 | $389,153 |
| 37 | Westchester | 16,436 | $98,954 | $357,237 |
| 38 | Vernon Hills | 26,876 | $121,943 | $448,031 |
| 39 | Brookfield | 19,331 | $110,295 | $345,445 |
| 40 | Long Grove | 8,305 | $250,001 | $924,481 |
| 41 | Darien | 21,879 | $111,215 | $449,623 |
| 42 | Willow Springs | 5,868 | $103,583 | $386,669 |
| 43 | Columbia | 11,127 | $107,606 | $342,742 |
| 44 | Homer Glen | 24,529 | $136,678 | $505,179 |
| 45 | River Forest | 11,992 | $146,786 | $716,652 |
| 46 | Mount Prospect | 55,472 | $101,720 | $433,814 |
| 47 | Lombard | 43,619 | $100,362 | $380,912 |
| 48 | Westmont | 23,724 | $88,090 | $400,412 |
| 49 | Glen Carbon | 13,977 | $97,168 | $331,015 |
| 50 | Carol Stream | 39,460 | $102,309 | $377,328 |
| 51 | Bloomingdale | 22,457 | $102,928 | $428,844 |
| 52 | O’Fallon | 32,262 | $105,982 | $308,471 |
| 52 | Lockport | 26,409 | $111,981 | $360,599 |
| 54 | Maryville | 8,316 | $100,670 | $325,041 |
| 55 | Morton Grove | 24,619 | $111,116 | $430,051 |
| 56 | Shiloh | 14,572 | $99,573 | $313,004 |
| 57 | Waterloo | 11,129 | $98,711 | $327,508 |
| 58 | Edwardsville | 26,474 | $86,721 | $324,629 |
| 59 | Mascoutah | 8,816 | $97,375 | $264,429 |
| 60 | Schaumburg | 76,868 | $97,514 | $349,953 |
| 61 | Woodridge | 33,941 | $101,000 | $404,092 |
| 62 | Palatine | 66,293 | $97,819 | $375,855 |
| 63 | Swansea | 14,710 | $91,587 | $263,376 |
| 64 | Oak Park | 53,292 | $110,820 | $458,455 |
| 65 | Lincolnwood | 13,112 | $109,731 | $542,075 |
| 66 | Harwood Heights | 8,821 | $81,086 | $377,397 |
| 67 | Warrenville | 14,718 | $100,321 | $352,076 |
| 68 | Oak Brook | 8,056 | $175,870 | $966,776 |
| 69 | Villa Park | 22,345 | $95,015 | $354,427 |
| 70 | Orland Park | 57,916 | $98,910 | $397,472 |
| 71 | Evanston | 76,340 | $96,434 | $470,774 |
| 72 | Willowbrook | 9,131 | $99,239 | $322,190 |
| 73 | Oak Forest | 26,805 | $91,990 | $287,163 |
| 74 | Tinley Park | 54,842 | $105,189 | $324,474 |
| 75 | Flossmoor | 9,391 | $133,663 | $327,346 |
| 76 | Des Plaines | 59,156 | $97,875 | $339,855 |
| 77 | Stickney | 6,952 | $66,942 | $286,404 |
| 78 | Rolling Meadows | 24,027 | $98,514 | $322,644 |
| 79 | Prospect Heights | 15,618 | $85,008 | $366,446 |
| 80 | Berkeley | 5,199 | $85,823 | $292,137 |
| 81 | Hoffman Estates | 51,175 | $106,806 | $394,618 |
| 82 | Streamwood | 39,001 | $101,218 | $321,982 |
| 83 | Skokie | 66,219 | $95,337 | $413,078 |
| 84 | Orland Hills | 6,719 | $122,039 | $327,784 |
| 85 | Roselle | 22,752 | $111,318 | $374,678 |
| 86 | Wood Dale | 13,933 | $91,382 | $347,554 |
| 87 | Wheeling | 38,433 | $85,205 | $305,781 |
| 88 | Bethalto | 9,239 | $64,775 | $197,189 |
| 89 | Evergreen Park | 19,420 | $95,719 | $281,356 |
| 90 | Addison | 35,489 | $90,431 | $372,968 |
| 91 | North Riverside | 7,249 | $77,170 | $340,577 |
| 92 | Palos Hills | 18,081 | $83,533 | $280,022 |
| 93 | Bolingbrook | 74,096 | $108,400 | $363,758 |
| 94 | Crete | 8,386 | $97,147 | $287,367 |
| 95 | Niles | 30,064 | $75,274 | $399,810 |
| 96 | Glendale Heights | 32,808 | $86,545 | $319,772 |
| 97 | Hanover Park | 36,732 | $91,763 | $321,958 |
| 98 | Elmwood Park | 23,868 | $91,955 | $338,383 |
| 99 | Godfrey | 17,712 | $94,543 | $214,595 |
| 100 | Monee | 5,108 | $91,969 | $337,963 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS via Saturday Night Science. 159 Illinois suburbs within 30 miles of a city over 200,000.
Summary
Summary: There You Have It – The Best Suburbs In Illinois
If you’re measuring the locations in Illinois where there are lots to do, and everyone wants to live, this is an accurate list.
The best suburbs in Illinois are Western Springs, Northfield, Deerfield, Hinsdale, Inverness, Wheaton, South Barrington, Buffalo Grove, La Grange Park, and Glencoe.
