What it's like to live in Beach Park
Beach Park is a small city in Illinois with rent below the national average, home prices that remain within reach, and schools with smaller class sizes than the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Beach Park deals with college degree attainment below the national average, a rent burden that leaves many renters stretched thin, cold winters, and snowy winters.
The good
- Rent below the national average
- Affordable home prices
- Low student-teacher ratio
The not so good
- Low college degree attainment
- High rent burden for renters
- Cold winters
- Snowy winters — 36" per year
- Smaller place — fewer dining and entertainment options
How Beach Park compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Beach Park
Based on Beach Park's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$2,508
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $50,160 a year
- 53% of Beach Park renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$49,160
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $24,580
- 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▼ 11% below US
$1,254/mo median rent
Cost of living works in this city's favor. Median rent sits around $1,254 a month, nothing that raises eyebrows. Solid value overall. Home prices are reasonable, with a median around $245,800. Not a steal, but not intimidating either.
Median home value $245,800 · 53% of renters cost-burdened
Job market
4.7% county unemployment
Unemployment in Lake County is 4.7%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.
Lake County (county-wide)
Safety
73 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction
Beach Park doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Lake County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.
Property crime 383/100k · Policed by Lake County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data
Getting aroundNear US average
28 min average commute
Commutes run about average, at 27.7 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 9 in 10 workers drive to work; 10% work from home.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are comfortable, with highs around 79°F, and winters are cold and harsh, with lows dropping to 19°F.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Education & workforce▼ 47% below US
19% bachelor's degree or higher
This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.
Schools
4 public schools inside the boundary
There are 4 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 14:1, well below 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 (52 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.
Bottom line
Beach Park's strongest points are rent below the national average and home prices that remain within reach; the main tradeoffs are college degree attainment below the national average and a rent burden that leaves many renters stretched thin. A year of median rent ($1,254/mo) equals 18% of the median household income here, less than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit people watching their budget.
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