Town Chart.

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Towns with the best schools in Illinois

Ranked by our Schools score out of 100, which is based on how many high-school students take AP, IB or college classes, how many students miss a lot of school, the graduation rate and class size, for the public schools in the town. Of the 398 towns in Illinois with 1,000 or more people, these are the top 25.

Elmhurst ranks first with a score of 85. Lake Forest and Arlington Heights follow, with 83 and 82. Scores compare each town with all 27,850 towns we track across the US.

RankTownScore High-school students in AP or IB classesHigh-school students taking college classes Population
1 Elmhurst 85 43.2%34.5% 45,671
2 Lake Forest 83 38.6%11.8% 19,416
3 Arlington Heights 82 46.1%29.2% 76,005
4 Batavia 80 32.8%26.2% 27,151
5 Freeburg 80 23.4%47.7% 4,592
6 Schaumburg 80 35.4%30.9% 76,868
7 Cary 80 33.9%33.0% 17,923
8 Heyworth 79 12.5%67.3% 2,573
9 Mascoutah 79 21.1%29.5% 8,816
10 La Grange 79 32.6%15.7% 15,998
11 Downs 78 28.5%12.1% 1,641
12 Lake Zurich 78 39.7%16.1% 19,832
13 Palatine 78 39.2%35.2% 66,293
14 Hoffman Estates 78 36.4%36.5% 51,175
15 Crystal Lake 77 27.0%33.8% 40,579
16 Lemont 77 40.3%15.0% 17,820
17 Grayslake 77 33.5%20.3% 20,929
18 Geneseo 77 21.2%13.4% 6,673
19 Princeville 76 9.6%27.3% 1,837
20 Park Ridge 75 43.6%24.2% 38,667
21 Coal City 75 19.7%30.2% 5,317
22 Catlin 75 19.8%16.0% 2,160
23 Glenview 75 33.2%9.5% 47,752
24 Lexington 75 11.2%19.7% 2,126
25 Troy 75 15.2%36.0% 11,647

This is not a test-score ranking, and graduation rates are from 2018 or 2019. Only towns with a high school of their own are listed, and a town does not show up when its students go to school elsewhere. Only towns with 1,000 or more people are ranked. Scores compare each town with all towns we track. See how we score towns and where the figures come from. These are estimates, so check official sources before you decide.

More rankings for Illinois

Towns with the best schools in other states

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