Village · Lake County, Illinois

Buffalo Grove, Illinois

Buffalo Grove is a village in Lake County, Illinois, part of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area. It has 42,891 residents. Buffalo Grove, Illinois has a quality-of-life score of 96 out of 100 (very high), ranking #656 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Illinois it ranks #6 of 697 cities and towns. It ranks best on frequent mental distress (low), rent-burdened households (low) and lack of reliable transportation (low). It ranks worst on effective property tax rate (high), high ozone days (high) and time spent in the emergency room (high).

96Very high

Quality-of-life score: #656 of 15,651 cities and towns
Illinois: #6 of 697 in IL
Population: 42,891 (2020-2024)
Land area: 10 mi²
Density: 4,482.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 1709447

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

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Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety91#1,374/15,637
Economy90#1,618/15,631
Housing77#3,470/14,977
Health98#382/15,609
Healthcare84#2,465/15,650
Environment40#9,237/15,453
Education86#2,132/15,649
Infrastructure90#1,615/15,650
Community82#2,810/15,651
Leisure & amenities69#4,816/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Buffalo Grove, Illinois ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Lake County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Frequent mental distress · low12.7%
99/100Illinois 18.7%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Rent-burdened households · low34.8%
99/100Illinois 47.9%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Lack of reliable transportation · low4.6%
97/100Illinois 8.4%United States 8.3%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Dentists · high119 /100k
96/100Illinois 86 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLake County value
Average weekly wage · high$1,783
96/100Illinois $1,539United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsLake County value
Bachelor's degree or higher · high68.7%
96/100Illinois 37.8%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003

Weaknesses

Effective property tax rate · high2.56%
1/100Illinois 1.88%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
High ozone days · high8 days
10/100Illinois 5 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLake County value
Time spent in the emergency room · high202 min
20/100Illinois 170 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesLake County value
Job growth · low-1.4%
20/100Illinois 0.0%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataLake County value
Mental health care shortage · high17.0
24/100Illinois 12.2United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationLake County value
Days with unhealthy air · high1.3%
29/100Illinois 4.2%2025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyLake County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

New homes permittedWorsening
1.7 /1k (2021) → 0.2 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−86%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateWorsening
1.6% (2015-2019) → 11.2% (2020-2024)
+9.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Public transit commutersWorsening
6.8% (2015-2019) → 2.8% (2020-2024)
−4 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%
Poverty rateWorsening
3.4% (2015-2019) → 7.2% (2020-2024)
+3.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Average commute timeImproving
31.0 min (2015-2019) → 26.3 min (2020-2024)
−15%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
92.1% (2015-2019) → 95.1% (2020-2024)
+3 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Buffalo Grove, Illinois improved on 3 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 5. 7 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Commute−4.8 min31.0 min → 26.3 min
Broadband+3 points92.1% → 95.1%
Household income+12%$115,951 → $129,395

Declined5

Child poverty+9.6 points1.6% → 11.2%
Poverty+3.8 points3.4% → 7.2%
Inequality+0.0310.411 → 0.442
Transit use−4 points6.8% → 2.8%
Price / income+0.3×2.9× → 3.2×

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Buffalo Grove, Illinois between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	31.0 min2015-2019	26.3 min2020-2024	−4.8 min	Improved	89%
Bachelor's degree or higher	66.1%2015-2019	68.6%2020-2024	+2.5 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Broadband subscriptions	92.1%2015-2019	95.1%2020-2024	+3 points	Improved	20%
Child poverty rate	1.6%2015-2019	11.2%2020-2024	+9.6 points	Declined	12%
Effective property tax rate	2.77%2015-2019	2.56%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	61%
High school diploma or higher	97.7%2015-2019	96.8%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Home price to income ratio	2.9×2015-2019	3.2×2020-2024	+0.3×	Declined	60%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4112015-2019	0.4422020-2024	+0.031	Declined	26%
Median household income	$115,9512015-2019	$129,3952020-2024	+12%	Improved	19%
Poverty rate	3.4%2015-2019	7.2%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Declined	16%
Public transit commuters	6.8%2015-2019	2.8%2020-2024	−4 points	Declined	8%
Rent as share of income	25.1%2015-2019	24.7%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Rent-burdened households	37.0%2015-2019	34.8%2020-2024	−2.2 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Unemployment rate	3.5%2015-2019	2.7%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Within the margin of error	66%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	3.3%2015-2019	4.4%2020-2024	+1.1 points	Within the margin of error	33%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Buffalo Grove, Illinois five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Buffalo Grove, Illinois in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Buffalo Grove, Illinois itself moved −1.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

42,891 residents (±67)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

16,213 households (±461)

Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Illinois share

Under $25k9.3%1,511
$25k–50k7.3%1,191
$50k–75k11%1,730

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

16,213 households (±461)

Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Illinois share

Own80%12,945
Rent20%3,268

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

22,447 workers (±797)

Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Illinois share

Drive alone58%13,051
Carpool4.9%1,094
Public transit2.8%†635

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Lake County, the county holding most of Buffalo Grove's residents.

Lake County has 20,076 employer establishments, 281 for every 10,000 residents (1.13× the US rate of 248; 1.10× Illinois's), with 337,069 paid employees at an average annual pay of $92,708. The Census Bureau also counts 65,725 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 20,076; 65,725 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 281; US 248 · Illinois 255
Paid employees: 337,069
Average annual pay: $92,708; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Lake County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	1,762	24.7	1.18×About typical	14,590	$77,394	2,982
Specialty trade contractors	1,285	18	1.16×About typical	9,755	$92,020	3,265
Restaurants and other eating places	1,273	17.8	0.97×About typical	21,863	$24,885	212
Services to buildings and dwellings	1,004	14.1	2.09×More than typical	10,835	$49,556	2,742
Lessors of real estate	811	11.4	0.92×About typical	2,892	$76,077	6,595
Management, scientific and technical consulting	714	10	1.49×More than typical	9,537	$119,895	3,308
Landscaping services	706	9.9	2.82×More than typical	4,022	$84,735	778
Truck transportation	673	9.4	1.86×More than typical	1,999	$57,838	2,737
Construction of buildings	659	9.2	1.22×About typical	2,123	$76,280	2,045
Computer systems design and related services	583	8.2	1.89×More than typical	6,950	$103,702	972
Offices of other health practitioners	579	8.1	1.34×More than typical	2,381	$49,600	1,449
Limited-service restaurants	574	8	1.00×About typical	10,558	$21,454	77

Rank places for an industry Open Lake County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 713,653 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $74.2M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Buffalo Grove, Illinois: $1,731 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $74.2M; −14% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1,731; US $1,994
Sole-source: 4.2%; US 30%
Single offer: 5.4%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of the Air Force$57.1M77%
Department of the Navy$3.9M5.3%
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources$3.7M5.0%
Department of Veterans Affairs$2.8M3.8%
Defense Information Systems Agency$1.8M2.4%
Office of the Chief Financial Officer$686.5K0.9%
Department of State$607.1K0.8%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$557.5K0.8%

Top recipients

KAY AND ASSOCIATES, INC.$55.4M75%
PARAGON MICRO INC$11.5M15%
SIEMENS INDUSTRY INC$3.8M5.1%
STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE INC$1.5M2.1%
ARXIUM, INC.$698.9K0.9%

Spending by fiscal year

56.2MFY2017
48MFY2018
54.8MFY2019
164.4MFY2020
282.6MFY2021
71.7MFY2022
78MFY2023
88.1M

Top industries (NAICS)

Aerospace product and parts manufacturing · 3364$56.9M77%
Computer systems design and related services · 5415$11.1M15%
Facilities support services · 5612$1.7M2.2%
Investigation and security services · 5616$1.3M1.7%
Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance · 8112$773.3K1.0%
Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments manufacturing · 3345

Part of this section could not be loaded in time.

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, so they do not add up across cities.

Buffalo Grove, Illinois's figures are part of those of Lake County, IL and Cook County, IL ($5.1B in FY2026), never added to them: 1.4% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Buffalo Grove is mostly in Lake County.

See federal money in Lake County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Buffalo Grove, Illinois is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).