One Of America's Top Suburbs Is An Affluent Chicago Village With Porch Swings, Parks, And Pedigree Schools

The Chicagoland area is chock-full of delightful suburbs to look for if you're ready to depart the city for a slower, greener lifestyle. From the quaint historic suburb of Elmhurst to the lively college charm of Evanston, there are plenty of places to consider. Don't miss the idyllic Clarendon Hills, which was named by Niche as one of the top 30 2025 "Best Places to Live" in the United States, and #2 in the Chicago area.

With a population of around 8,600, this charming suburb offers all the benefits of the 'burbs — like highly-rated public schools, ample green space, and low crime rates — while still retaining a buzzy, vibrant atmosphere of restaurants, cafés, and a business district and lively downtown. You could say it's the best of both worlds. Best of all, Clarendon Hills is well-located: with easy accessibility to both O'Hare and Midway Airports, several major highways, and a Metra station, meaning that downtown Chicago is just a short ride away.

Clarendon Hills is definitely an affluent suburb, with a median home value that's nearly $300,000 above the national average. If you're concerned about the cost of living here, there's good news for you, too: the median rent price is $200 a month below the nationwide average. And with a safe and family-friendly environment — and some of Illinois' highest-rated schools — it's a great home base from which to raise a family.

Reviews on Niche describe it as a place where residents "feel safe letting our kids walk around the neighborhood, enjoying the beautiful parks and playgrounds." Indeed, there are a multitude of parks and green spaces, including Prospect Park. Like the beautifully wooded park in Brooklyn with which it shares its name, Clarendon Hills' Prospect Park is a gorgeous oasis. It boasts numerous amenities over its 23 acres, including a fishing pond, baseball and soccer fields, a picnic pavilion, basketball, tennis, and sand volleyball courts, a sledding hill, a handicap-accessible playground, and much more. Enjoy the park's offerings for a family-friendly day out, or simply relax at home with a comfortable seat on your very own porch swing and watch the world go by.

With a 99.4% high school graduation rate and 77.4% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or higher, there's no doubt Clarendon Hills is academically oriented. Many Clarendon Hills youngsters are zoned for the prestigious public high school Hinsdale Central High School, which was once ranked 147th on a list of the top 1,000 schools in the entire country. Notre Dame, a Catholic school serving Pre-K to eighth grade, is also conveniently situated in Clarendon Hills, if you're eager to provide your kids with a faith-based education. All in all, if you're looking for a suburb where your children's education and wellbeing are a top priority, you're in the right place here.

One thing to take note of, however, is the lack of diversity in Clarendon Hills. The town was given low marks for diversity, both in terms of ethnicity and economic status, and the town is roughly 81% white. If you value living in a suburb with more diverse neighbors, and a less racially and socio-economically homogeneous community, this may not be the ideal place. Overall, however, Clarendon Hills is a fantastic pace for those looking for a slower life but still want close access to the big city.