The largest city in Illinois is nowhere near the top in a 2016 ranking of the best Illinois cities for families, and the third-largest city didn’t fare much better.
Chicago ranks 154th of the 162 cities on the WalletHub family-friendly list, and Rockford placed 149th. Aurora – the second-largest Illinois city – came in at number 99.
WalletHub says it rated Illinois cities on four weighted categories of and then totaled the scores to achieve the ranking.
Rockford ranked 141 in “Education, Health & Safety” – which covers school quality, graduation rates, pediatricians per capita, and crime rates – and 148 “Socioeconomic Environment” measuring poverty, unemployment, and the wealth gap, among other factors.
While you might think that neighboring cities would rank pretty much the same in a survey like this, a look at DeKalb and Sycamore – which are are very close neighbors in DeKalb County – indicates that’s not the case.
One is home to a major university; and the other is the seat of county government. There are several other differences in the WalletHub ranking.
DeKalb ranked 17th in the area of “Family Life and Fun” on such factors as playgrounds per capita; the number of museums, theaters and other attractions; and the percentage of families with children aged 18 or younger. Sycamore ranked 109th.
But Sycamore was number 58 in the category “Affordability,” which includes housing and general living costs, while DeKalb came in at number 135.
Morton, in Tazewell County, ranked best overall. East Saint Louis was dead last.
More than 100 cities – including LaSalle, Rock Falls and Peru – didn’t make the list at all because not enough data was available, according to the survey.
The full list of cities and their rankings, plus an interactive map, are available onthe WalletHub website.