Lake in the Hills, Algonquin Ranked Among the Best Cities in Illinois for Families

We all want what is best for our family.

And when it comes to choosing where to live, several towns throughout the Chicago suburbs get high ranks for being among the best places to raise a family, according to recently released rankings by WalletHub. But, there are also plenty of duds. Seven of the top ten best, and also, seven of the top ten worst towns in Illinois are located in the Chicago suburbs, according to WalletHub’s 2016 Best and Worst Cities for Families list.

Among the best suburbs are Deerfield (No. 2), Libertyville (No. 4), Hinsdale (No. 6), Cary (No. 7), Lake in the Hills (No. 8), Frankfort (No. 9) and Naperville (No 10). Algonquin came in at No. 22 on the list. Among the worst suburbs on WalletHub’s list were: Harvey, Dolton, Maywood and Blue Island. 

But, neither the top-ranked city for families, nor the one lowest on WalletHub’s list, was a suburban town. WalletHub ranked Morton, a village of about 15,000 residents located southeast of Peoria, as the best town in Illinois for families, and ranked East St. Louis, a city located on the Mississippi River just east of St. Louis, as the worst town in Illinois for families.

We’ve included a list below of the 40 best, and worst cities, and you can also scroll over Wallethub’s map to find your town.

WalletHub’s analysts compared 162 cities in the state using 21 indicators of “ideal family conditions.” Some of those conditions included percentage of families with young children, median family income, housing affordability, quality of the school systems, number of parks and attractions and a separation and divorce rates. The full methodology can be found here.

Best Cities in Illinois for Families

1. Deerfield
2. Washington
3. Morton
4. Libertyville
5. O’Fallon
6. Hinsdale
7. Cary
8. Lake in the Hills
9. Frankfort
10. Naperville
11. Yorkville
12. Edwardsville
13. Elmhurst
14. Oswego
15. Lake Zurich
16. Batavia
17. Lake Forest
18. Glen Ellyn
19. Normal
20. Grayslake
21. La Grange
22. Algonquin
23. Bartlett
24. Shorewood
25. Montgomery
26. Wilmette
27. Vernon Hills
28. St. Charles
29. New Lenox
30. Wheaton
31. Buffalo Grove
32. Crystal Lake
33. Plainfield
34. Northbrook
35. South Elgin
36. Glenview
37. Geneva
38. Bloomington
39. Lockport
40. Woodridge

Worst Cities in Illinois for Families

1. East St. Louis
2. Harvey
3. Dolton
4. Maywood
5. Blue Island
6. Bridgeview
7. Calumet City
8. Kankakee
9. Chicago
10. Country Club Hills
11. Chicago Heights
12. North Chicago
13. Lansing
14. Rockford
15. Danville
16. Bellwood
17. Bensenville
18. Cicero
19. Alton
20. Carbondale
21. Franklin Park
22. Waukegan
23. Melrose Park
24. Granite City
25. Berwyn
26. South Holland
27. Niles
28. Mount Vernon
29. Park Forest
30. Zion
31. Elmwood Park
32. Alsip
33. Crest Hill
34. Matteson
35. Skokie
36. Addison
37. Decatur
38. Palos Hills
39. DeKalb
40. Oak Lawn

The full list can be found here.