New Study Names This City As Illinois’ Best Place To Live

It seems that no matter where you live here in the state of Illinois, you're going to read at some point about a city or town nearby that's (at least in someone's opinion) a lot better than where you've chosen to reside.

Everyone has their own criteria for deciding whether someplace is a great spot to live and raise a family, or a place that you can't get out of quickly enough. Since I don't have the time or resources to ask each and every one of you what your criteria is, let's take a look at what 247WallSt.com used to come up with their results for their piece "Every State's Best City To Live In:"

To identify the best city to live in every state, 24/7 Wall St. created a weighted index of 22 measures across three categories: economy, quality of life, and community. Our list includes cities, towns, villages, boroughs, and census-designated places. We did not include places with fewer than 5,000 residents in our analysis. Cities where 50% or more of the population is enrolled in college or graduate school or where 40% or more of housing units are vacant for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use were excluded.

Before We Get To The Best City In Illinois To Live In, Let's Take A Look A The Best Cities In Our Neighboring States, According To 247WallSt.com

It's perfectly normal if you've considered making a move to another state here in the Midwest, especially since so many of our fellow Illinoisans have made that same choice. Outbound migration from Illinois to the states surrounding us has been going on for quite a while now. Here are the top cities in Illinois' neighbors:

• Wisconsin: Mequon
• Iowa: Iowa City
• Indiana: Carmel
• Missouri: Fort Leonard Wood
• Michigan: Ann Arbor
• Minnesota: North Oaks
• Kentucky: Lexington-Fayette

Illinois' Best Place To Live Is Also Home Of The Chicago Botanic Garden...But It's Not Chicago

The best place to live in Illinois, based upon 247WallSt.com's criteria is...Glencoe.

TheCenterSquare.com:

Glencoe, home to about 8,820 people, has a median household income of $212,132 and a median home value of $1,101,200. According to the 2023 County Health Rankings and Roadmaps program, a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, 99.3% of the local population have easy access to places for exercise, like parks. Census data also shows that there are about 24.6 recreational and entertainment venues, such as movie theaters, museums, sports clubs, libraries, and restaurants for every 10,000 businesses in the area.