Community Corner

Suburban Towns Ranked as Best for Young Families

Which Chicago suburb do you think is the best for young families? Let us know in the comments section.

Which Chicago suburb do you think is the best for small families? 
 
The consumer advocacy website NerdWallet has ranked the best Illinois communities for young families with several suburban towns making the list. The rankings were based on the following factors: public school rating, average home value, ongoing cost of homeownership, average income and economic growth.

The following suburbs ranked from fourth to tenth as the best communities for young families in the state: Grayslake (4), New Lenox (5), Geneva (6), Huntley (7),  Downers Grove (8), Elmhurst (9) and Orland Park (10). 

And while several Chicago suburbs made the list, the top three communities for young families were not suburban towns. 

Nerdwallet.com ranked Edwardsville, which is about 30 miles northeast of St. Louis, as the best town for young families. Edwardsville "is consistently cited among the best places for families in both statewide and national studies — and for good reason," according to the rankings.

"The town’s public schools at every level, from elementary to high school, have a near-perfect rating from Great Schools," according to NerdWallet

The second best community for young families was O’Fallon, also a suburb of St. Louis, and Charleston, which is located south of Champaign. 

One of the main differences between the top three communities compared with communities in the Chicago suburbs was home value. While the median home value in Edwardsville was $197,500, all median home values for suburban communities ranged from $248,000 to $383,000. 

What do you think is the best town for young families in Illinois? Let us know in the comments section. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Lake Zurich