2 Illinois Cities On 2022’s Best Places To Live List

ILLINOIS — The Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago and Naperville are among the best places to live in the United States, according to a new ranking released this week by Money.

The 2022 ranking of 50 Best Places to Live in the U.S. includes cities that offer the best in what matters most to residents: economic opportunities, quality of life, and diversity, according to Money. This year, researchers also set out to feature a more diverse list of cities than in past years.

“We kept returning to the question, ‘best places to live for whom?’” researchers said on Money’s website. “(Previous cities were) often quaint, affordable — and unintentionally yet overwhelmingly white. We wanted to create a more welcoming list for a broader group of people this year, so we restructured our data gathering and ranking processes to reflect that priority.”

Rogers Park ranked the highest on the list among cities in Illinois and ranked as the fifth overall best place to live in the country, according to the report. With a population of 55,230 people, Rogers Park residents have a median household income of $46,054 while the city’s unemployment rate is 5.4 percent.

The average price of a home in Rogers Park is around $200,000, which makes it much more reasonable than most places in Chicago and was among the most reasonable of places listed on Money’s list.

Rogers Park is known for its diversity and is known as Chicago’s most diverse neighborhood because of its ethnic mix of residents, Money reported.

“Start at the intersection of Devon and Rockwell, an area sometimes referred to as “Little India.” Geometric patterns in yellow and pink pop off the walls of the adjacent South Asian clothing boutique,” Money said. “Head East toward Lake Michigan and you’ll waltz by Indian, Nepalese, Pakistani, Israeli, Cuban, and Chinese restaurants serving up a variety of vegetarian, vegan, kosher, and halal dishes.”

Naperville, meanwhile, ranked No. 16 on the Money list after it was also deemed the best place in the country to be a kid, according to the U.S. Census Bureau as well as the best place to raise a family (Niche) and is also among AARP’s Top 10 places for seniors.

With a population of 142,360, Naperville has an unemployment rate of 3.5 percent and a median home price point of $422,323.

To determine the cities on this year’s list, Money analyzed data in nine different areas: cost of living, diversity, economic opportunity, education, fun and amenities, health and safety, the housing market, income, personal finance, and quality of life.

Data was collected from several sources including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Read more about the methodology for Money’s Best Places To Live.

The top city on this year’s list is Atlanta, Georgia.

“This is no accident,” researchers said. “At a time when people are becoming much more introspective about their role in society, our goal this year was to name a number one where anyone can feel like they belong. And for that, Atlanta is hard to beat.”

Following Atlanta is Tempe, Arizona, at No. 2, and Kirkland, Washington, at No. 3.

See the full list of Best Places To Live.