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Best places to live in Illinois revealed in new ranking

By FOX 32 Digital Staff
Published  June 3, 2025 7:15am CDT
Illinois
FOX 32 Chicago

The Brief

    • U.S. News & World Report ranked the top 22 places to live in Illinois based on quality of life, affordability, job market, and more.
    • Arlington Heights and Buffalo Grove tied for the top spot, followed by Naperville, Palatine, and Elgin.
    • Chicago ranked 21st, with suburbs dominating the top of the list due to stronger income, housing, and commute metrics.

U.S. News & World Report released a list of the best places to live in Illinois, a ranking of 22 cities evaluated for quality of life, value, desirability, job market strength and migration trends.

Arlington Heights scored a 6.4 out of 10 overall, tying with Buffalo Grove for the top spot. The rankings factored in median home prices, commute times, household incomes, and access to amenities. Naperville, Palatine, and Elgin rounded out the top five.

Best places to live in Illinois, according to U.S. News & World Report

  1. Arlington Heights
  2. Buffalo Grove
  3. Naperville
  4. Palatine
  5. Elgin
  6. Schaumburg
  7. Bloomington
  8. Bolingbrook
  9. Skokie
  10. Des Plaines
  11. Aurora
  12. Evanston
  13. Springfield
  14. Cicero
  15. Decatur
  16. Peoria
  17. Joliet
  18. Rockford
  19. Champaign
  20. Waukegan
  21. Chicago
  22. Kankakee

Despite its size and cultural impact, Chicago ranked 21st due to factors like longer commute times and affordability challenges. Meanwhile, suburbs like Arlington Heights and Buffalo Grove earned high marks for income levels, housing value, and livability.

U.S. News based the rankings on public opinion from a 2025 national survey and data sourced from government and private organizations, evaluating each city's performance on a 0–10 scale.

Ranking methodology

By the numbers:

U.S. News & World Report's Best Places to Live rankings evaluated cities using a weighted system across five categories: Quality of Life (26%), Value (25%), Desirability (24%), Job Market (23%), and Net Migration (2%). The rankings are based on data from Applied Geographic Solutions and U.S. News' internal metrics, including statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, FBI, and other federal and local sources.

Each category includes factors like education quality, healthcare access, air quality, housing affordability, crime rates, culture, commute times, job availability, and income. These metrics are standardized to ensure fair comparisons and are ultimately converted into a 0–10 scale to generate overall scores.

The Source: The information in this article came from U.S. News & World Report.

IllinoisArlington HeightsBuffalo GroveNapervillePalatineElginSchaumburgBolingbrookSkokieDes PlainesChicagoEvanstonAuroraCiceroJolietWaukeganKankakeeNews
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