What it's like to live in Aurora
Aurora is a mid-size city in Illinois with home prices that remain within reach, household incomes running above the national average, crime rates well below the national average, and a highly educated workforce. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Aurora deals with air quality that falls short of national benchmarks and cold winters.
The good
- Affordable home prices
- Higher-than-average incomes
- Low crime rates
- Highly educated workforce
- Average class sizes
The not so good
- Air quality concerns
- Cold winters
How Aurora compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Aurora
Based on Aurora's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$3,192
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $63,840 a year
- 44% of Aurora renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$54,960
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $27,480
- Homes cost 2.9× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▲ 13% above US
$1,596/mo median rent
Rent is pretty middle of the road, at $1,596 a month median. Not a bargain, not a budget-buster. About typical for a city this size. Home prices are reasonable, with a median around $274,800. Not a steal, but not intimidating either.
Median home value $274,800 · 44% of renters cost-burdened
Job marketNear US average
4.6% unemployment
Unemployment here is 4.6%, close to the national average of 4.3%.
City-level (BLS)
Safety▼ 33% below US
220 violent crimes per 100k
Pretty safe, all things considered. Violent crime sits below the national average, nothing alarming, just ordinary city-life awareness.
Property crime 1082/100k · Aurora Police Department · 2025 data
Getting aroundNear US average
27 min average commute
Commutes run about average, at 27.2 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 16% work from home.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are warm, with highs around 82°F, and winters are cold and harsh, with lows dropping to 19°F.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Healthcare
2 hospitals
There are 2 Medicare-certified hospitals inside city limits. They average 3.5 out of 5 on Medicare's star rating.
Medicare-certified hospitals
Education & workforceNear US average
39% bachelor's degree or higher
Education levels run about average, with 39% college-educated. It's a mix of white-collar and blue-collar work, which can be an asset or a limitation depending on the field.
Schools
52 public schools inside the boundary
There are 52 public schools inside the boundary and 15 private schools. The student-to-teacher ratio is 15:1, close to the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is Pullman National Historical Park (35 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.
Bottom line
Aurora's strongest points are home prices that remain within reach and household incomes running above the national average; the main tradeoffs are air quality that falls short of national benchmarks and cold winters. A year of median rent ($1,596/mo) equals 20% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit anyone prioritizing low crime and remote workers (16% of workers here already work from home).
Other places near Aurora
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