These Are The 10 Best Places For Families In Illinois

When it comes to finding a wholesome, safe, and downright swell community to raise a family, there is perhaps no better area to start looking than the Midwest. But even among these gosh darn good ol states, there are some that are better than others for families, and even more specifically, some communities that are just the bees knees. (For some reason the Midwest brings out the “Leave it to Beaver” in me. Sorry.) Today at the Movoto Real Estate Blog we’ll take a look at the 10 best communities to raise a family in the fine state of Illinois. Here they are, starting with our winner, Oak Park: 1. Village of Oak Park
2. Village of Glenview
3. City of Naperville
4. City of Elmhurst
5. Village of Plainfield
6. City of Wheaton
7. Village of Buffalo Grove
8. Village of Downers Grove
9. City of Schaumburg
10. City of Park Ridge
If you’re scratching your head and wondering “Gee golly, how did they come up with this list?” (or if you’re just wondering about the method of our analysis), keep reading. We’ll also take a closer look at why these 10 family-friendly communities are the cat’s pajamas—i.e., better than yours.

Our Methodology

Just like any of our other Big Deal Lists, we needed this one to be unbiased, factual, and all around neato, so we used sources like the U.S. Census, the 2012 FBI Uniform Crime Report, and GreatSchools.org to collect our data. We started by creating a list of the 50 most populous places in Illinois and then, using the sources previously listed, collected data for each in the following family-friendly criteria:

• GreatSchools score (the higher the better)
• High school graduation rate (the higher the better)
• Percent of households with children (the higher the better)
• Crimes per 100,000 people (the lower the better)
• Cost of living (the lower the better)
• Unemployment rate (the lower the better)
• Commute time (the lower the better)
• Childcare facilities and providers per capita (the higher the better)
• Parks per capita (the higher the better)

From there, we ranked all 50 places with scores from one to 50 in each of our criteria. Scores closer to one = better places for families. We then averaged each place’s rankings into one overall Big Deal Score, where the place with the lowest score was our best place for families. Of course these 10 weren’t the only peachy keen spots in Illinois to raise your kiddos; to see how the 50 largest places in the state ranked, just hop down to the bottom of the post. Otherwise, let’s take a closer look at each of our top 10, starting with our winner, Oak Park.

1. Oak Park

You know what’s great about Oak Park (aside from almost everything)? It has all of the convenience of being just outside of Chicago, in case you want to go check out a play, do some shopping, or make a museum day of it; but it is its own community. A much more family-friendly community at that. For starters, it ranked third overall for its low number of crimes—just 1,084 per 100,000 people. Compared to Chicago’s 5,175, this place was practically a safe haven. It also ranked third for its low unemployment rate of 5.20 percent, and for its high number of parks and childcare options per capita. Finally, it earned an A+ in the education department, scoring third for both its high school graduation rate (95 percent) and its nearly perfect score of nine from Greatschools.org.

2. Glenview

Remember how we said Oak Park’s unemployment rate was low? Well, it is, but it’s nothing compared to Glenview’s unemployment rate of 4.60, the lowest in our analysis. Glenview also aced it for its education, tying in third place for its high school graduation rate and Greatschools.org score of nine out of 10. Not only did Glenview have some of the most parks per capita, but it was also home to the unique Park Center, a multi-purpose community center complete with a pool, a fitness center, a preschool, arts programs, and more. It’s kind of perfect for families. In fact, the only thing about this community that might not have been so kid-friendly was the cost of living. Here it earned 50th place. As in last. As in…this place is expensive.

3. Naperville

This certainly isn’t the first of Naperville’s awards—it’s been named one of the best places to live in the U.S., a good place to retire, and even one of the wealthiest cities in the Midwest. But for its most prestigious and awesome award (placing third on our list, of course), Naperville wowed us, not with its wealth, but with its family-friendly assets. This Chicago suburb tied for the best high school graduation rate—96 percent. Of course with a Greatschools score of nine out of 10, it’s clear that a good education starts early here. It also ranked as one of the best for its number of parks per capita and, best of all for new families moving to the area, the 44.28 percent of residents who had children under 18.

4. Elmhurst

Just so ya know, Greatschools.org doesn’t just give away good grades lightly, like your old gym teacher might have. So when we say that Elmhurst earned a 10 out of 10 from the website, just know that these kids earned it. And if these same kids are growing up and entering the community’s workforce, well, it’s no wonder the unemployment rate was just 5.30 percent. Luckily, Elmhurst also ranked No. 1 for its number of parks per capita. You know the saying, “All work and no play…” Well, it doesn’t make for a very happy young Jack.

5. Plainfield

If you happen to be moving your family to someplace new in Illinois, Plainfield may well be one of the best options for everyone. Your kids will have no trouble meeting others their age, since 56.12 percent of this village’s residents had kids. Plus, when you get tired of your kids and need a night out, you’ll have no problem finding a sitter, since this village had the second highest number of childcare listings per capita. (Hey. It happens.) Plus, Barbara the babysitter is bound to be plenty smart—the high school graduation rate in Plainfield was 96 percent, the highest in the state.

6. Wheaton

One basic lesson that every parent should teach their kids: money can’t buy you happiness. We all know this. But when you look at affluent places like Wheaton, it’s pretty clear that it can sure help to pave the way for some important things in life. For example, Wheaton ranked as the fourth safest place in our analysis. It also had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state (5.40 percent), the sixth most parks per capita, and earned itself a nine out of 10 for its excellent schools. The only category where this community lost points was its cost of living. But hey, most of the locals made over $86,000 per year. Seems like they’re probably doing alright.

7. Buffalo Grove

If you’re looking for that safe, wholesome, white picket fence, Midwest community, it doesn’t get much better than Buffalo Grove. You want safety? How’s a crime rate of just 904 per 100,000 residents work for you? You want wholesome? How about a high school graduation rate of 95 percent, a Greatschools score of nine out of 10, and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state? And as for the white picket fence…well, just look at some of these.

8. Downers Grove

The only real downer in this community seems to be the cost of living—a 112 whereas the national average was 100. But hey, you get what you pay for, and in Downers Grove they’re getting a whole lot of awesome. First instance of awesome: the education. Downers Grove had a high school graduation rate of 95 percent, plus a nine out of 10 for its schools. It also had an unemployment rate of just 5.40 percent. Perhaps best of all (for parents, anyway), this place had some of the most babysitters and daycares per capita.

9. Schaumburg

There are a lot of cities that are all work and no play, or lots of fun and just complete crap when it comes to productivity. (Case in point: Chicago may have plenty of parks and babysitters for nights on the town, but when it comes to its high school graduation and unemployment rates, well, that’s a different story.) Lucky for Schaumburg residents, though, this city had a bit of both. Not only did it rank among the best in education (scoring a nine out of 10) and employment, but it also had the eighth most parks and the fifth most childcare listings per capita.

10. Park Ridge

As the birthplace of Hillary Clinton and perhaps even cooler, Harrison Ford, it is probably no surprise that Park Ridge is an excellent place to raise a family. After all, those two turned out pretty well. But what exactly makes this Chicago suburb so family-friendly—and perhaps success-inspiring? Well, it probably has a little something to do with the education—the schools were rated a nine out of 10 and the high school graduation rate was one of the highest in the state at 94 percent. It doesn’t end in the classroom though. Park Ridge was also home to the 14th most parks per capita, and likely, some of the safest parks as well, since the crime rate here was so low.

Dreams of White Picket Fences

Aw, shucks. If you didn’t see your hometown on our list, don’t worry—it may be that it is simply not one of the 50 largest places in Illinois, or, it may just be a terrible place to raise a family. You’ll probably know which of those is true or not. Of course if your hometown really did rank toward the bottom of our list (see below) and you have dreams of white picket fences and a good old wholesome Midwest town to raise your family, just get in touch. After all, aside from creating lists like this one, we sell houses at Movoto Real Estate—and Oak Park is just swell this time of year.