Kane County Community Ranked No. 2 in U.S. Best Places for Families to Live
“Zip Code,” the official blog of ziprealty.com, has named Geneva, IL, and the Chicago area as the No. 2 best place for families to live in the United States.
“Today we’re excited to introduce our first annual ranking of the Best Places for Families to Live,” the website says. “When searching for a home, many families are looking to buy in high-performing school districts, but they don’t want to break the bank doing so (since good schools are often in affluent areas).
“Our rankings take into account both the availability of highly ranked schools (based on the ZipRealty School Score) and affordability of local real estate (based on the median price per square foot within the school district).”
Geneva had the second-lowest median price per square foot at $123, just behind the first-place winner, Westonka Public Schools in the Minneapolis area, which had a median price of $112 per square foot.
While one always takes such rankings with a grain of salt, it’s always nice to be recognized for the quality of life in your neck of the woods. Apparently, this ranking was based on school district test score data as well as student/teacher ratios in areas where 10 home sales closed within school district lines during 2012.
The top 10 Best Places for Families to Live were:
1. Minneapolis area
Standout School District: Westonka Public Schools – see homes for sale in this school district
2. Chicago area
Standout School District: Geneva Community Unit – see homes for sale in this school district
3. Portland area
Standout School District: Lake Oswego – see homes for sale in this school district
4. Philadelphia area
Standout School District: Tredyffrin/Easttown – see homes for sale in this school district
5. Austin area
Standout School District: Eanes Independent – see homes for sale in this school district
6. Westchester, NY
Standout School District: Briarcliff Manor Union Free – see homes for sale in this school district
7. Dallas area
Standout School District: Highland Park Independent – see homes for sale in this school district
8. Seattle area
Standout School District: Mercer Island – see homes for sale in this school district
9. Boston area
Standout School District: Lexington – see homes for sale in this school district
10. Orange County, CA
Standout School District: Irvine Unified – see homes for sale in this school district
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Our proprietary School Score ratings measure the performance of each school district (including elementary, middle and high schools) on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest; ratings are based on test score data as well as student/teacher ratios. We also only considered areas where 10 home sales closed within school district lines during 2012.
