Why look at Niles?
- Mid-tier housing market. Median home is $407k.
- Rising market. Home values up +6.4% year-over-year — momentum is positive.
- Higher tax state. Top marginal income tax rate around 5.0% — factor into salary comparisons.
Where Niles stands
At or near all-time high. home values up 6.4% in the last year. population shrinking 0.8% per year.
Home value trajectory · last 10 years
Zillow ZHVI · monthlyLifestyle scores
Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.
Rent vs buy
At a 13.0 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Niles on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 13.0 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.
How the momentum score breaks down
methodology →About Niles (Wikipedia)
Niles is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located in the townships of Maine and Niles, directly neighboring Chicago's far northwest border. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,912. The current mayor of Niles is George Alpogianis.
Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for Cook County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Cook County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Neighborhoods of Niles
16 tracked · ranked by median home valueRun the numbers for Niles
Illinois context
Schools
Niles is served by 6 public schools enrolling about 3,648 students, with a student-teacher ratio of 12.5:1 — smaller classes than the US average of ~15:1. Public-school facts are from the NCES Common Core of Data; check ratings and attendance boundaries by exact address below.
Ratings, districts & boundaries:
Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.
Climate & natural-disaster risk
State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.
Local sports teams
Major professional teams the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.
Current weather
Find rentals & listings
Open current Niles listings on the major real-estate sites.
Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.
Local news & community
Latest news in Niles
2 from local press- Home Depot profit falls, but it tops expectations in the face of growing economic uncertaintyLOCALBoston Herald1w ago
- US jobless aid filings fell to 209,000 last week as layoffs remain low despite economic uncertaintyLOCALWhittier Daily News1w ago
- Newly Released Footage Highlights ICE’s Use of Facial Recognition TechnologyTruthout6d ago
- Niles Notre Dame High School (IL) Boys LacrosseMaxPreps4d ago
Updated 2026-05-28 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Filtered for Niles-specific coverage. Headlines link to original sources.
Local economy & environment
Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.
Find more cities like Niles
Open the matchmaker pre-filled to match Niles’s price band, region, and size — refine to taste.
Find more like Niles →Cities similar to Niles
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.
Cost-of-ownership at the median
Snapshot assumes a $150k single earner buying at the median home. Your real numbers depend on bracket, deductions, school district, and HOA. Use the affordability calculator and net-pay calculator for your specific case.
Schools & crime context
School quality is district-by-district and varies dramatically within a city. Check GreatSchools or your state DOE rankings for specific schools before deciding. City-level school data coming soon.
Illinois: 396 violent crimes per 100K residents (state avg, FBI UCR). Neighborhood-level rates can vary 10× within one city — research specific areas via CrimeGrade or local police data.
Compare to where you live now
Set your current city once and we’ll show the cost delta on every city profile.
Jobs & hiring
In Niles, unemployment runs higher at 6.7%, and hiring momentum has been steady. The strongest local sectors are healthcare, tech and skilled trades & manufacturing.
Search current openings: