Winnetka Rated No. 2 'Best City To Live In' Nationwide

WINNETKA, IL — Winnetka is the nation's second-best city to live in, according to a new ranking incorporating measures of standard of living, community, economy and affordability.

The website 24/7 Wall St. created a weighted index of 25 measurements to identify to 50 best United States cities to live in. It showed Winnetka was ranked second only to Manhattan Beach, California, and was one of only two Illinois communities to make the list, with Mahomet coming in at No. 38.

That's despite the fact the Southern California community's unemployment rate of more than double Winnetka's, its population has been growing less than half as fast and its median household income trails Winnetka's by over $70,000.

In Winnetka, the median household income of $220,577 is more than 365 percent the national average, according to data used in the ranking, and the village's 2.4 percent jobless rate is less than half of the national average over the past five years.

Adding to the village's ranking in community-related factors, the village offers a relatively high concentration of restaurants, bars and theater per capital. It also helped the village's strong rating in the "community" category that a quarter of Winnetka workers commute via public transit and 27 local parks make up about 10 percent of the town's total land area, according to 24/7 Wall Street.

The methodology used for the rankings restricted the list to one city per county, meaning Winnetka was the top-ranked town in Cook County. It also means none of Lake County's North Shore communities cracked the top 50. Towns with fewer than 8,000 residents, or with a poverty or unemployment rate above the national average, were ineligible for the list.

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