The 10 Best Cities in Illinois

Illinois, The Land of Lincoln, is home to one of the country’s largest cities, yet it’s a state that traditionally has plenty of agriculture and rural areas too. Set in the Midwest and bordering on the Great Lakes, Illinois has a reputation as a bellwether in politics, culture, and society, but is it a good place to live? We’ve taken the top 10 largest cities in Illinois and ranked them according to how livable they are. Looking at education, crime, employment, cost of living, amenities, weather, and housing here are the 10 best cities in Illinois.

10. Cicero

Cicero is the 10th largest city in Illinois, and the 10th best place to live. Named for the town of Cicero in New York, this Cicero is home to around 84,000 people. The city ranks worst for education out of our 10 cities, scoring very poorly, plus it has a high cost of living. The crime index is about average, as are weather, employment, and housing, and it has excellent amenities.

9. Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in Illinois, and the third largest city in the country, home to around 2.7 million people. It’s a massive metropolis so undoubtedly it has a wealth of amenities, and stable housing market. Apart from this it suffers many of the same problems as other large cities: high cost of living, lots of crime, and schools that could be better.

8. Waukegan

Set on the shores of Lake Michigan, to the north of Chicago, is the city of Waukegan. It’s the ninth largest, and the eighth best city in Illinois. It has great amenities, a stable housing market, average crime rates and weather, but falls short with cost of living and education.

7. Rockford

Rockford is the third largest city in Illinois, and is nicknamed The Forest City for the large amount of forest that surrounds it. Rockford ranks as the seventh best city in Illinois. The cost of living in Rockford is very low compared to many other cities on our list, but it has one of the worst crime ratings. Education and employment are about average though.

6. Aurora

Nicknamed the City of Lights because it was one of the first cities to have all electric street lights, Aurora is today a vibrant city and the second largest in the state. Crime is average, but education is below average, and while the cost of living is higher in Aurora there is a low level of unemployment and great amenities. All these factors rank Aurora the sixth best city in Illinois.

5. Elgin

Known as the City in the Suburbs, Elgin is around 40 miles northwest of Chicago and it’s the eighth largest city in the state. Elgin scores well in terms of amenities, crime, employment, and housing, but not so well for schools, or cost of living.

4. Peoria

Home to around 115,000 people, Peoria is the seventh largest city in Illinois. Good amenities and a low cost of living get Peoria the number 4 spot in our best cities in Illinois, but a worse crime index, average education, employment and housing stops it from ranking any higher.

3. Joliet

About 40 miles southwest of Chicago is Joliet, the fourth largest city in Illinois and the fastest growing. Joliet scores average in most sectors, and above average for employment and housing, plus it has a low cost of living. One drawback is that the weather isn’t so great in Joliet!

2. Springfield

Springfield is the capital of Illinois, and its sixth largest city. Known as the Home of President Abraham Lincoln, Springfield is today home to around 116,000 people. Springfield is the second best city in Illinois, scoring well for amenities, cost of living, and education, and average for employment, housing, and weather. But it does have a lot of crime.

1.Naperville

The city of Naperville is the best city in Illinois! It beats all the other big cities on our list hands down, so it’s not surprising that in 2006 Money magazine voted Naperville the second best place to live in the entire country! Crime is extremely low here, as is unemployment, and the city has a very stable housing market too. There are good amenities, and for Illinois, the weather is about average. The only downside to living here is the cost of living – it’s the highest of our 10 cities.