Is South Barrington a good place to live?
South Barrington is one of the best-graded places in America: an A+, 41st of 767 graded towns in Illinois. The median household earns $222K, CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 98% of the country, and its schools outperform 88% of the state's. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $1.2 million for a typical one and 12.7 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 74% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in South Barrington, above both the Illinois town median (29%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). On hazard risk, just 66 of Illinois’ 1,285 towns do better. South Barrington is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns.
What makes South Barrington stand out
Where South Barrington beats most towns.
South Barrington has grown 11% since 2010
4,565 counted in 2010 and 5,077 in 2020; an estimated 5,071 in 2025.
Growth has leveled off: within 1% of 2020, after 11.2% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
How South Barrington grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far South Barrington is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 6%), so the A+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Wrigley Field and 154 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around South Barrington. Close and well known come first.
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw36 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
15 mi Stadium & arenaAllstate Arena
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaUnited CenterPhoto credits
Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Soldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Allstate Arena: Nkon21, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5
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Moving to South Barrington: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in South Barrington, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in South Barrington.
South Barrington carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Illinois (mostly inland flooding) and has less utility shut-off threats than most of Illinois, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Illinois.
For cost of living, South Barrington earns a D
At 12.7 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $1.16M) costs more against local pay than in 99% of Illinois towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
Over the 12 months to September 2026, the typical home gained 8.3% in value. In South Barrington, the rent at the middle of the market is $2,200 a month. On the market in the town: a median 64 days to sell.
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
A smaller share of adults have obesity in South Barrington than in most of Illinois or the rest of the country
Its widest gap with Illinois is utility shut-off threats: 3% of its 3,868 adults were threatened with a utility shut-off, against 7.8% statewide. Against the 691 U.S. towns with household incomes like South Barrington’s, it is healthier than 56%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
Among adults in South Barrington, 15% binge drink. Only 2 of the 767 Illinois towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than South Barrington. This Illinois town does better than the Illinois average on 26 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 2.
| South Barrington | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 37% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 17% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 22% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 8.5% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | South Barrington | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 3% | 7.8% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4% | 9.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.8% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
South Barrington has set aside 2.5% of its land for conservation
Paul Douglas Forest Preserve, at 113 acres with 1.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Trails run 6.1 miles in 9 parks and preserves. South Barrington’s trail density comes in at 0.8 miles per square mile.
| South Barrington | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stillman Nature Center | 3.2 mi | 81 |
| 2. Paul Douglas Forest Preserve | 1.7 mi | 113 |
| 3. New Community Park | 0.2 mi | 34 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
South Barrington is safer than four in five U.S. towns, by crime per resident
Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
South Barrington’s rate of reported violence stands at 0.6 per 1,000 residents. The property offense rate here is 6.3 per 1,000 residents.
| South Barrington | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.3 per 1,000 residents | 7.9 | 9.9 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
South Barrington faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 92% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $1,264 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
Federal disaster aid has reached households in South Barrington after 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2024. For South Barrington, the natural-hazard score from FEMA is 18 of 100. Expected losses in South Barrington break down as 49% from inland flooding and 24% from cold waves. Paid flood insurance claims locally since 2018: one.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Four seasons and pleasant summers in South Barrington
The typical July afternoon high for South Barrington comes to 83°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median household income in South Barrington is higher than in the typical Illinois or U.S. town
South Barrington has about as many jobs (2,017) as working residents, but only 87 people both live and work here.
For working residents in South Barrington, the share who work locally is 3.9%. Only 6 of the 768 Illinois towns we compare have a lower share of residents below the poverty line than South Barrington. In South Barrington, the average trip to work is 29 minutes. Half commute less than 15 miles.
| South Barrington | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $222,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 1% | 8.4% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.9% | 8.4% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Everything we know about South Barrington
Colleges nearby
6 within 15 miles of the center of South Barrington
About 6 of every 100 South Barrington residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Illinois.
About South Barrington
Village in Illinois, United States
South Barrington is a residential suburb in Cook County, Illinois, United States, south of Barrington. Per the 2020 census, the population was 5,077. It is the location of the famous megachurch Willow Creek Community Church, a lifestyle center (shopping center) named The Arboretum of South Barrington, and Goebbert’s Farm & Garden Center, a long-running family-owned agritourism site known for its annual fall pumpkin festival.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 7.7 sq mi
South Barrington’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with South Barrington.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Barrington | #41 | A+ | D | A− | A | A+ |
| Hoffman Estates | #228 | A− | D | B | B+ | A |
| Barrington Hills | #77 | A | D− | A | A | A |
| Inverness | #28 | A+ | D | A | A− | A+ |
| Barrington Township | #84 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
| Palatine Township | #203 | A− | D | — | A− | A+ |
Barrington Township and Palatine Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare South Barrington with a neighbor →
Questions about South Barrington
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is South Barrington, IL a good place to live?
Yes, by almost any measure. South Barrington grades A+ overall, better than 96% of U.S. towns and #41 of 767 in Illinois. It grades A+ for health, A− for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Is South Barrington, IL expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.