Best Schools in Illinois (2026)

Illinois runs one of the largest public school systems in the country, with 3,813 ranked schools spanning 2,326 elementary, 684 middle, and 703 high schools. The statewide average sits at 6.3 out of 10, which places Illinois in the middle tier among comparable large-state systems. That average, however, masks significant spread: 1,241 schools — roughly one in three — score 7 or above, meaning strong options exist across the state for families who know where to look.

The highest-rated schools cluster in the Chicago suburbs, particularly along the North Shore and in the western collar counties. Brook Forest Elementary in Oak Brook, Northbrook Junior High, and Westmoor Elementary in Northbrook all earn 9.9 out of 10 ratings, as do Rondout Elementary in Lake Forest and Union Elementary in Joliet. These schools consistently outperform the vast majority of Illinois peers and rank among the top performers nationally. Districts such as Northbrook School District 27, Lake Forest School District 67, and Oak Brook Elementary District 97 are worth close attention for families prioritizing academic outcomes at the elementary and middle levels.

Chicago itself presents a more varied picture. Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest district in the nation, contains schools that range widely in performance — from selective-enrollment campuses that compete with any school in the state to neighborhood schools that fall well below the 6.3 statewide average. Parents researching Chicago specifically should filter by individual school scores rather than relying on district-level reputation. Outside the city, mid-sized metros like Naperville, Evanston, and Downers Grove produce consistently high concentrations of schools in the 7-to-9 range, making those communities reliable targets for families who can't access the top-tier collar suburbs.

Downstate Illinois tells a different story. Cities like Rockford, Peoria, and East St. Louis anchor districts where school scores frequently fall below the statewide mean, reflecting the resource gaps and demographic pressures common to post-industrial Midwest cities. That said, individual high-performing schools exist even within lower-scoring districts — another reason to evaluate schools one at a time rather than by zip code alone.

For parents actively comparing options, a few practical points stand out. The 33% of schools scoring 7 or higher gives Illinois a reasonably deep pool of quality options, but geographic concentration is real: your proximity to the North Shore or the DuPage County corridor matters. If you're relocating, running school searches by specific address rather than city or district will surface more accurate results. For families already in Illinois, understanding how your child's current school compares to the 6.3 state average — and to the 9.9-rated benchmarks set by schools like Brook Forest or Rondout — gives useful context when weighing private alternatives, magnet applications, or a move to a higher-scoring attendance zone.