QoL Rank
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Illinois

Illinois has a quality of life score of 47/100 (C, average) and ranks #31 of 51 states. Its strongest category is safety (54) and its weakest is quality of life (37). Its top-rated larger counties are Monroe County, Effingham County, Piatt County.

  • Safety: 54
  • Cost of living: 49
  • Education: 46
  • Quality of life: 37

Key figures: violent crime 270.6 per 100,000 people a year (US 345.2); median rent $1,274 a month; median home value $263,300; median household income $80,346; life expectancy 77.5 years.

Counties in Illinois, best first

  1. Monroe County 71
  2. Effingham County 68
  3. Piatt County 68
  4. DuPage County 66
  5. Woodford County 64
  6. McHenry County 64
  7. Henry County 63
  8. Ogle County 63
  9. Hancock County 62
  10. Bond County 62
  11. Shelby County 62
  12. Jo Daviess County 62
  13. Tazewell County 61
  14. Kendall County 61
  15. Clinton County 60
  16. Bureau County 59
  17. McLean County 59
  18. De Witt County 58
  19. Adams County 58
  20. Washington County 58
  21. Jasper County 58
  22. Moultrie County 57
  23. Jersey County 56
  24. Whiteside County 56
  25. Williamson County 56
  26. Lake County 56
  27. Logan County 55
  28. Will County 55
  29. Carroll County 55
  30. Crawford County 55
  31. Putnam County 55
  32. Mercer County 54
  33. Hamilton County 54
  34. Marshall County 54
  35. Perry County 53
  36. Lee County 53
  37. Menard County 53
  38. Stark County 53
  39. Livingston County 53
  40. Ford County 53
  41. Macoupin County 53
  42. Fulton County 52
  43. Warren County 52
  44. Richland County 52
  45. Grundy County 51
  46. Iroquois County 51
  47. McDonough County 51
  48. Kane County 51
  49. Edgar County 51
  50. Christian County 50
  51. Morgan County 50
  52. LaSalle County 50
  53. Boone County 50
  54. Brown County 50
  55. Cumberland County 50
  56. Madison County 49
  57. Sangamon County 49
  58. Douglas County 49
  59. Edwards County 49
  60. Stephenson County 48
  61. Greene County 48
  62. Clark County 48
  63. Randolph County 48
  64. Calhoun County 47
  65. Rock Island County 47
  66. Champaign County 47
  67. Schuyler County 47
  68. Massac County 46
  69. Johnson County 46
  70. DeKalb County 46
  71. Lawrence County 46
  72. Clay County 45
  73. Coles County 45
  74. Pike County 45
  75. Montgomery County 45
  76. Jefferson County 45
  77. Wabash County 44
  78. Wayne County 44
  79. Peoria County 44
  80. Fayette County 43
  81. Macon County 43
  82. Knox County 42
  83. Marion County 41
  84. Scott County 41
  85. Cass County 41
  86. Pope County 40
  87. Saline County 39
  88. Mason County 39
  89. St. Clair County 39
  90. Kankakee County 39
  91. White County 39
  92. Cook County 38
  93. Jackson County 37
  94. Winnebago County 37
  95. Henderson County 36
  96. Gallatin County 36
  97. Franklin County 36
  98. Hardin County 35
  99. Vermilion County 34
  100. Union County 30
  101. Pulaski County 29
  102. Alexander County 26

Your priorities

Choose how much each category counts toward the overall score. The map, rankings and every place’s overall score update as you go.

About the data

Every county is compared with every other US county, and every state with the other states.

Each measure becomes a percentile from 0 to 100, where 100 is always best. For crime, deaths, disaster risk, costs and commutes, the lowest value is best. A category score averages its measures’ percentiles and is then scaled so all four categories have the same spread around 50, so each counts equally. The overall score is the average of the four. 50 is a typical place, and most land between 35 and 65. Your priorities lets you weight the categories differently.

Grades: A 65 and up, B 55–64, C 45–54, D 35–44, F under 35.

Each category lists a county’s own figures next to its state’s and the US figures. Under the state and US columns, Difference shows whether the county is higher or lower, as a share of that figure (hover for the exact gap). Rank shows where it ranks instead: “ranked 75%” means it does better than 75% of the counties in its state, or in the US. A green arrow or dot means the county does better, red means worse.

Compare puts any two places side by side, counties or states, in any state. The better value in each row is highlighted.

A county gets an overall score only if all four categories have data and at least 60% of the measures are present. Small counties often have suppressed data, and without this rule they rank at the top on just a few numbers. Top 10 lists only include counties with at least 10,000 people.

What’s measured

Limitations

Sources