Livability Awards
Decatur, Illinois is a medium-sized city with a population of 74,063 inhabitants. If we look at the most recent Census, Decatur is known to have a predominantly White population. The next two most common races are Black and Asian. Not a fan of sitting in traffic? One big advantage of living in Decatur is the reasonable commute times to work. With an average one way commute time of 17 minutes, getting to work is faster than the national average of 26 minutes.
Whether you’re relocating to a new area to be closer to family, friends or for a new job, living in Decatur could be a positive experience compared to other cities in Illinois if you know where to search. With useful information like amenities, cost of living, housing and other key data points, finding the best places to live in Decatur and in the areas around Decatur is a much easier task.
Decatur has a livability score of 59 out of 100 and is ranked #1,045 in Illinois and #24,256 in the USA. Compared to the United States average, this area has a score which ranks among the lowest in the nation, and it is not considered a very livable city. There are seven total categories that form the livability score. Decatur scores well for amenities (A+) and cost of living (A-). There is at least one category that did not score well in Decatur. The following was graded with a concerning score: crime (F), education (F), employment (F) and housing (F).
Location, location, location - possibly the three most important words in your search for a new place to live. Fortunately, in Decatur, there is no shortage of amazing local amenities and interesting things to do. Some of the interesting things to do and attractions include: Kirkland Fine Arts Center, Scovill Golf Course, and Hickory Point Golf Course.
Being close to public transportation, grocery stores, parks and other conveniences are all important when weighing your options for a new home in Decatur. Before you determine if any of these amenities are available in the area, you will also want to know if the real estate prices in Decatur are affordable. The median home price for Decatur homes is $80,300, which is 54.1% lower than the Illinois average. If we take a closer look at the affordability of homes in Decatur, we’ll see that the home price to income ratio is 2, which is 33.3% lower than the Illinois average. Purchasing your new home can come with many financial benefits, some of which are more lucrative than others. Perhaps the most notable benefit could be the appreciation of your new home. Home appreciation rates are a good way to generate tax-free equity on a long term basis. The year over year appreciation rates in Decatur were 8.8%, and the 5 year appreciation rates came in at 0.7%.
| Statistic | Decatur | Illinois | National |
| Average one way commute | 17min | 29min | 26min |
| Workers who drive to work | 81.0% | 73.4% | 76.4% |
| Workers who carpool | 10.7% | 8.3% | 9.3% |
| Workers who take public transit | 1.8% | 9.2% | 5.1% |
| Workers who bicycle | 0.3% | 0.6% | 0.6% |
| Workers who walk | 2.6% | 3.1% | 2.8% |
| Working from home | 2.8% | 4.4% | 4.6% |
| Walk | Bike | Compact | Car | S.U.V. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distance | |||||
| Duration | |||||
| Cost/Month |
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