These Are The 10 Best Suburbs In Illinois For 2018

Are you sick of being a city slicker?

Do you long for life in suburban Illinois? Where you can drive your 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.

Public transportation is…icky at times. When you have to call an Uber to get to urgent care on a Friday night, that gets old after a while.

So, the question is, if you wanted to move out to the suburbs of Springfield, 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.

These are the 10 best suburbs in the Prairie State:

1. Western Springs (Photos)
2. Deerfield (Photos)
3. Northbrook (Photos)
4. Winnetka (Photos)
5. Wilmette (Photos)
6. Buffalo Grove (Photos)
7. Hinsdale (Photos)
8. Lake Forest (Photos)
9. Winfield (Photos)
10. Northfield (Photos)

Western Springs is the place to be when it comes to being a soccer mom in suburban Illinois.

So if you’re thinking of packing up your mini van and making a move to a quiet place to live in Illinois, we’ve got you covered.

Keep on reading for a detailed methodology. Or, check out the best places to live in Illinois and the best places to raise a family in Illinois.

How do you determine which suburb is the best in Illinois anyways?

To give you the best suburbs in Illinois, we have to look at a handful of metrics. Of course, we want to measure the type of people who live in each city, and make some assumptions about what’s a “best city” and what isn’t.

So we researched the internet for a database that contains all that information.

How we crunched the suburb numbers for the Prairie State

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using U.S. Census data produced for the state of Illinois, we looked at every town between 5,000 and 200,000 residents, and within 30 miles of a city that’s over 200,000 people (In other words, suburbs).

We paid particular attention to:

• 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 a number of criteria from one to 193, 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, quiet, and awesome places to live in Illinois

Read on to see why Western Springs is the ‘burb with the most, while Riverdale is probably not the best place to live in Illinois.

1. Western Springs

Population: 13,133
Median Income: $147,361
Median Home Price: $530,800
Western Springs is located 11 miles west of Chicago.

2. Deerfield

Population: 18,686
Median Income: $143,729
Median Home Price: $508,800
Deerfield is located 24 miles north of Chicago.

3. Northbrook

Population: 33,538
Median Income: $115,243
Median Home Price: $519,300
Northbrook is located 21 miles north of Chicago.

4. Winnetka

Population: 12,437
Median Income: $207,857
Median Home Price: $989,600
Winnetka is located 18 miles north of Chicago.

5. Wilmette

Population: 27,367
Median Income: $138,651
Median Home Price: $636,900
Wilmette is located 16 miles north of Chicago.

6. Buffalo Grove

Population: 41,554
Median Income: $101,376
Median Home Price: $299,600
Buffalo Grove is located 26 miles north of Chicago.

7. Hinsdale

Population: 17,438
Median Income: $173,558
Median Home Price: $859,400
Hinsdale is located 12 miles west of Chicago.

8. Lake Forest

Population: 18,881
Median Income: $162,117
Median Home Price: $831,800
Lake Forest is located 29 miles north of Chicago.

9. Winfield

Population: 9,543
Median Income: $96,849
Median Home Price: $292,700
Winfield is located 10 miles east of Aurora.

10. Northfield

Population: 5,374
Median Income: $125,636
Median Home Price: $597,900
Northfield is located 18 miles north of Chicago.

There You Have It – The Best Suburbs In Illinois

Here’s a look at the worst suburbs in Illinois according to the data:

1. Riverdale
2. Robbins
3. Harvey

For more Illinois reading, check out:

• 10 Most Ghetto Cities In Illinois
• 10 Worst Places To Live In Illinois
• 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Illinois

Detailed List Of The Best Suburbs In Illinois

City	Rank	Population	Median Income	Median Home Price
Western Springs	1	13,133	$147,361	$530,800
Deerfield	2	18,686	$143,729	$508,800
Northbrook	3	33,538	$115,243	$519,300
Winnetka	4	12,437	$207,857	$989,600
Wilmette	5	27,367	$138,651	$636,900
Buffalo Grove	6	41,554	$101,376	$299,600
Hinsdale	7	17,438	$173,558	$859,400
Lake Forest	8	18,881	$162,117	$831,800
Winfield	9	9,543	$96,849	$292,700
Northfield	10	5,374	$125,636	$597,900
Clarendon Hills	11	8,641	$111,981	$485,900
Park Ridge	12	37,567	$92,474	$397,400
Elmhurst	13	45,742	$100,671	$381,500
Lincolnshire	14	7,291	$102,364	$476,600
Burr Ridge	15	10,736	$126,771	$645,400
Wheaton	16	53,568	$91,241	$342,000
Barrington	17	10,449	$119,688	$493,000
La Grange Park	18	13,596	$85,671	$321,200
Campton Hills	19	11,500	$119,044	$414,100
Glenview	20	46,559	$102,009	$478,400
La Grange	21	15,688	$105,417	$446,100
River Forest	22	11,217	$103,622	$574,600
Highland Park	23	29,780	$130,355	$534,500
Arlington Heights	24	75,721	$79,979	$322,400
Mokena	25	19,839	$98,662	$289,400
Glen Ellyn	26	27,894	$101,967	$410,800
Naperville	27	145,789	$110,676	$388,400
Plainfield	28	41,881	$116,896	$287,100
Homer Glen	29	24,385	$92,054	$298,100
Roselle	30	22,911	$79,040	$237,300
Geneva	31	21,732	$100,284	$305,000
Vernon Hills	32	25,910	$95,217	$323,400
Downers Grove	33	49,555	$85,171	$331,600
Darien	34	22,232	$82,255	$298,400
Glen Carbon	35	12,782	$81,658	$202,400
Oak Brook	36	7,988	$144,286	$825,400
Channahon	37	12,329	$89,957	$195,400
Frankfort	38	18,415	$113,250	$351,200
Itasca	39	8,502	$82,269	$282,300
Columbia	40	10,193	$73,442	$198,100
Elburn	41	5,594	$96,896	$241,800
Manhattan	42	7,405	$86,536	$212,100
Long Grove	43	8,065	$184,208	$652,100
Lisle	44	22,989	$79,819	$334,400
Oswego	45	33,245	$97,537	$225,100
Huntley	46	25,831	$76,998	$231,100
Mount Prospect	47	54,552	$69,517	$296,500
Lemont	48	16,587	$89,524	$342,500
Gilberts	49	7,479	$123,399	$255,100
Glencoe	50	8,870	$185,320	$891,300
Morton Grove	51	23,413	$75,797	$283,700
Waterloo	52	10,197	$70,534	$177,900
Bartlett	53	41,475	$100,458	$260,500
St. Charles	54	32,745	$89,971	$281,700
Algonquin	55	30,413	$100,027	$240,600
Troy	56	10,041	$72,054	$169,800
West Dundee	57	7,369	$80,087	$249,100
Willow Springs	58	5,677	$81,926	$347,400
Sugar Grove	59	9,288	$104,754	$268,200
New Lenox	60	25,347	$102,273	$273,800
Palos Heights	61	12,544	$80,077	$275,000
Riverside	62	8,779	$100,696	$387,100
Yorkville	63	18,436	$85,045	$233,100
Lincolnwood	64	12,637	$96,222	$379,500
Inverness	65	7,844	$172,949	$616,500
Orland Hills	66	7,241	$76,311	$221,600
Brookfield	67	18,966	$75,336	$227,400
Palatine	68	69,098	$75,066	$265,800
Maryville	69	7,837	$82,392	$191,400
Hoffman Estates	70	51,727	$88,733	$252,600
Willowbrook	71	8,603	$67,047	$215,300
Highwood	72	5,377	$54,189	$350,600
Pingree Grove	73	5,983	$76,780	$170,800
Batavia	74	26,413	$89,932	$278,600
Lombard	75	44,025	$73,201	$240,600
North Aurora	76	17,612	$81,826	$229,300
Lockport	77	25,096	$79,148	$212,400
Schaumburg	78	74,366	$75,658	$230,800
Woodridge	79	33,331	$76,858	$249,400
Lake In The Hills	80	28,908	$85,895	$204,000
Orland Park	81	58,612	$85,580	$273,100
Shiloh	82	13,050	$81,146	$214,500
Des Plaines	83	58,755	$64,582	$238,900
Flossmoor	84	9,215	$87,179	$223,500
Prospect Heights	85	16,331	$63,150	$265,100
Warrenville	86	13,415	$80,686	$194,300
Carol Stream	87	40,228	$73,104	$228,500
Oak Park	88	51,989	$82,826	$359,100
Monee	89	5,098	$69,381	$148,100
Sycamore	90	17,611	$67,132	$173,900
Westchester	91	16,719	$72,470	$217,100
South Elgin	92	22,274	$87,738	$200,100
Tinley Park	93	57,125	$76,022	$220,400
Edwardsville	94	25,044	$68,454	$194,300
Evanston	95	75,472	$71,317	$356,600
Bloomingdale	96	22,221	$76,757	$281,000
Villa Park	97	21,977	$71,724	$229,400
Mascoutah	98	7,917	$70,957	$153,500
Westmont	99	25,149	$55,684	$287,500
Montgomery	100	19,055	$80,900	$192,600