Chicago suburb Naperville is one of Illinois’ best-kept secrets, but it’s unlikely to remain that way as the upscale enclave has just been judged the best place to live in America for the second year in a row.
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$600K Median Home Value
Niche, a popular rankings and review site used by people looking for neighborhoods and schools, scored Naperville a rare overall A+. Only the Illinois weather let the city down, earning a humble C, while cost of living, commuting and crime, safety, and nightlight earned commendable B’s. Housing is relatively affordable for a generally affluent commuter city, with Zillow’s median home value just below $600,000.
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A Small City With A Suburban Feel
Finishing top of a list of 230 cities and over 18,000 smaller communities nationwide is quite an accomplishment for Naperville. So what makes it so special? The city of just under 150,000 residents has “a dense suburban feel, and most residents own their homes,” Niche says.
"In Naperville, there are a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Many families and young professionals live in Naperville, and residents tend to have moderate political views,” the report reads.
“It’s a big city with a small town feel,” Mayor Scott Wehrli told the Daily Mail.
Most locals share this sentiment: “You commonly will recognize somebody at different restaurants out and about just from their involvement in the school, sports, and community. It feels like everybody knows everybody,” Jenna Mandolini, the director of sales and marketing at Hotel Arista in downtown Naperville, told the outlet.
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Smart City Planning
According to the World Population Review, Naperville has exhibited all the essential signs of a city on the rise, with its population growing significantly over the past 45 years, from just 45,000 people in 1980 to almost 150,000 today, adding businesses, amenities, and diversity thanks to its commutable distance to Chicago. According to Wehrli, one of its significant growth factors was passing a decades-old law that required developers to donate land or cash for parks and school sites, a decision, he told the Mail, that “became a model for cities across the country.”
Chicago Flight
Naperville is indicative of a wider pattern that has seen the Chicago suburbs grow in population as more people have left the city due to high taxes, violence, and the pandemic, suburban Chicago newspaper Daily Herald reports. According to think tank Illinois Policy, citing Census data, Chicago has lost 128,000 residents since 2015, although there has been evidence of a slight reversal over the last two years.
The Northwest suburbs are especially in demand, with Gen Xers and baby boomers drawn to relaxed, resort-type living and the range of accommodation types, the Herald states, attracting residents who would rather rent than be saddled with a mortgage.
According to U.S. Census data, as cited by Secret Chicago, the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area ranked ninth in the nation for numeric growth, adding 70,762 residents between 2023 and 2024.
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