Housing & affordability
18% of the score · 75/100
B
Median home value$607,300
Chicago $323,000
Median rent$1,925/mo
Chicago $1,430/mo
Cost-burdened households32%
Chicago 33%
Highland Park
Lake County30,398 residents2 school districts
71
B−
Suburbgrade score
3rd of 60 Chicago suburbs. Strong on schools and employment & income, held back by cost of living.
71
Chicago median 60
0 · F
A+ · 100
Launch-day rule. Residents is not counted for Highland Park yet: no poll responses so far. The overall score of 71 is computed on the other six categories, re-normalised to 100%. Answer the poll →
What living here is actually like
Written summary in preparation This page is waiting for its written summary, and for a person to check it. Until then it is excluded from search engines.
What Highland Park is like to live in, by category
Bars show Highland Park against Chicago. Weights are published in full.Schools
18% of the score · 91/100
A
Within-state proficiency89th pct
Chicago median 63rd pct
Student–teacher ratio11.4
Chicago median 13.7
Graduation rate—
Chicago median 91%
Cost of living
14% of the score · 38/100
D−
Housing cost index153
Chicago 100
Eff. tax rate2.08%
Chicago 1.83%
Local sales tax8.96%
Chicago median 8.96%
Commute & transport
14% of the score · 68/100
B−
Mean commute27.5 min
Chicago 30.3 min
Under 30 minutes65%
Chicago 51%
Transit stops / sq mi8.8
Chicago median 3.8 · within 2 miles
Amenities
12% of the score · 74/100
B
Restaurants & cafés60
Chicago median 50 · within 2 miles
Groceries4
Chicago median 6 · within 2 miles
Parks97
Chicago median 65 · within 2 miles
Employment & income
12% of the score · 78/100
B+
Median household income$168,094
Chicago $90,887
Unemployment3.2%
Chicago 6.1%
Professional occupations67%
Chicago 45%
Residents
12% of the score · inactive
—
No responses yet. Residents is excluded from the score until eight people answer.
Ask the people who live here
Twelve yes/no questions, one tap each. No dataset knows whether the yards are kept or whether anyone talks to their neighbours. Answers feed the Residents grade, which needs eight responses before it counts.
Nobody has answered for Highland Park yet. If you live here, you can be the first.
Is it quiet at night?
—
Do you feel safe walking after dark?
—
Can you walk to a grocery store?
—
Is it good for young children?
—
Are yards and streets well kept?
—
Tap either button to answer — no account neededAll twelve questions →
Better than Highland Park on cost of living
Highland Park's weakest grade is D−. Six suburbs are within 25 miles and score higher on the same four inputs.
SuburbCost of livingOverall
Cicero23 mi from Highland ParkC+ 49 D+ Niles11 mi from Highland ParkC+ 62 C Addison20 mi from Highland ParkC 56 C− Elk Grove Village15 mi from Highland ParkC 62 C Des Plaines11 mi from Highland ParkC 66 C+ Waukegan13 mi from Highland ParkC 51 D+ Cost-of-living index composed in-house from housing cost, utilities, effective property tax and local sales tax · Median home value: ACS 2020–24 · Effective property tax: ACS 2020–24
Common questions about living in Highland Park
Is Highland Park, IL a good place to live?
Highland Park scores 71 out of 100, 3rd of 60 Chicago suburbs. It is strongest on schools and weakest on cost of living. Every weight behind that score is published on the methodology page.
Is Highland Park expensive to live in?
Cost of living grades D−. The median home is $607,300, 88% above the Chicago median, and the effective property tax rate is 2.08%. $1,925/mo is the median gross rent.
How good are the schools in Highland Park?
Schools grade A. The districts serving Highland Park sit at the 89th pct within-state proficiency percentile, with a — graduation rate and a 11.4 student–teacher ratio. Highland Park is served by Twp Hsd 113 and North Shore SD 112. Proficiency is only ever compared inside the same state.
How long is the commute from Highland Park?
The mean commute is 27.5 min, with 65% of workers travelling under 30 minutes and 27% working from home. Transit density is 8.8 stops per square mile.
Can you walk anywhere in Highland Park?
Within two miles there are 4 groceries, 60 restaurants and cafés and 97 parks, which grades B on amenities.
Are the homes in Highland Park old or new?
The median home in Highland Park was built in 1963 — older than the Chicago median of 1971. That is a median, so a town can be half post-war and half new-build and still land there. 78% of homes are houses rather than flats.
Every answer is built from the figures on this page, with their sources and as-of dates on the methodology page.