Barrington Population: 10,300 (89% white, 5% Hispanic, 4% Asian, 1% black) Median household income: $106,000 Median sales price (house): $438,000 Violent crime rate: 0.4 per 1,000 (vs. 2.1 countywide) Transportation: One Metra stop Founded in 1865, this horsy northwestern suburb offers plenty of room for families to spread out—and feels far more removed from … Read more
Wilmette Population: 27,100 (83% white, 11% Asian, 3% Hispanic, 1% black) Median household income: $130,000 Median sales price (house): $635,000 Violent crime rate: 0.3 per 1,000 (vs. 2.1 countywide) Transportation: One el stop; one Metra stop Wilmette—which ranked No. 2 on that DePaul study of the metro area’s most transit-friendly towns—offers a near-perfect combination … Read more
Hinsdale Population: 16,800 (87% white, 6% Asian, 4% Hispanic, 1% black) Median household income: $166,000 Median sales price (house): $930,000 Violent crime rate: 0.1 per 1,000 (vs. 0.8 countywide) Transportation: Three Metra stops “When I take the kids out here, it just feels right,” says PR firm owner Melissa Skoog Dunagan, a Gold Coast … Read more
Wheaton Population: 52,900 (84% white, 5% Hispanic, 5% Asian, 4% black) Median household income: $86,000 Median sales price (house): $336,000 Violent crime rate: 0.4 per 1,000 (vs. 0.8 countywide) Transportation: Two Metra stops If you’re religious about Sunday services, you may have come to the right place. The seat of DuPage County is part … Read more
Highland Park Population: 29,800 (87% white, 7% Hispanic, 3% Asian, 2% black) Median household income: $115,000 Median sales price (house): $491,000 Violent crime rate: 0.8 per 1,000 (vs. 1.8 countywide) Transportation: Four Metra stops The current home of former Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan (and the former home of Bulls legend Michael Jordan, … Read more
Lake Bluff Population 5,700 (91% white, 6% Asian, 2% Hispanic, 1% black) Median household income $147,000 Median sales price (house) $468,000 Violent crime rate 0.0 per 1,000 (vs. 1.8 countywide) Transportation One Metra stop Want to send your kids to excellent Lake Forest High School while sidestepping the affluent Lake Forest scene? Tiny Lake … Read more
Lincoln Square Includes: Budlong Woods, Ravenswood Population: 39,500 (63% white, 19% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 5% black) Median household income: $55,200 Median sales price (house): $582,000 Median sales price (condo): $247,000 Violent crime rate: 2.6 per 1,000 (vs. 9.3 citywide) Transportation: Four el stops; one Metra stop If you think of this as a beer-and-brats … Read more
La Grange Population: 15,600 (86% white, 6% Hispanic, 5% black, 1% Asian) Median household income: $97,000 Median sales price (house): $421,000 Violent crime rate: 1.0 per 1,000 (vs. 2.1 countywide) Transportation: Two Metra stops In 2012, researchers at DePaul University released a report naming La Grange the most transit-friendly suburb in the entire Chicago … Read more
Geneva Population: 21,500 (91% white, 5% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 1% black) Median household income: $93,000 Median sales price (house): $316,000 Violent crime rate: 0.5 per 1,000 (vs. 1.9 countywide) Transportation: One Metra stop This former grain-mill town is known for fun stuff to see and do. (Just ask the tourists who flock here.) There’s … Read more
Woodstock Population: 24,800 (71% white, 24% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 2% black) Median household income: $56,000 Median sales price (house): $147,000 Violent crime rate: 1.0 per 1,000 (vs. 1.2 countywide) Transportation: One Metra stop The 1993 movie Groundhog Day wasn’t filmed in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, but right here in Woodstock, Illinois. Bill Murray’s hapless character spent … Read more
