Illinois lands 4 cities on list of best places to live in the U.S.

Each is distinct, but with downtowns clustered along the same riverfront and collaborations across business, service and the arts, the area offers many of the amenities you’d expect from one larger city.

There’s a bustling brewery scene, casinos and river cruises. Davenport alone is the third-largest city in Iowa. Rock Island’s historic downtown includes a pedestrian mall with a popular nightlife area known as The District.

The Quad Cities is the largest metropolitan area on the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and St. Louis, and it’s three hours from Chicago and two and a half hours from Des Moines, Iowa.

Megan Valley

This brawling, bruising, sometimes bawdy and always big-hearted river town gave the world Caterpillar equipment, the comic Richard Pryor, the feminist Betty Friedan, the first televangelist Fulton Sheen, life-saving penicillin in abundance and pizza-sized pork tenderloin sandwiches. Its economy survived Prohibition and the Rust Belt, and it now turns its attention to health care, autonomous vehicles, ag-tech and ecotourism.

You can buy a lot of house for relatively little money in this metro area’s gentrified urban neighborhoods, along its river-view bluff and in its family-filled suburban subdivisions. Gritty old warehouses are becoming entertainment districts where foodies congregate, live music flourishes and loft apartments multiply. Stage theater is returning to architectural-jewel venues.

Summer and fall bring a festival most weekends. Bradley Braves basketball is beloved. An extensive trail network, park system and other outdoor offerings beckon bikers and boaters, hikers and hunters.

Michael E. Bailey

Your experience living in Chicago will depend on your ZIP code. From Uptown to Hyde Park, East Garfield to the Loop, each of the city's 77 official community areas brings a unique personality. The summer's festivals, fireworks and beach afternoons shift to ice skating, zoo lights and holiday cheer in the winter months – with a mix of a warming spring and a colorful fall in between. The expansive Museum Campus is second to none, the beloved Cubbies never fail to entertain and the various festivals are seemingly never-ending.

Chicago residents exude Midwestern friendliness, offering "hellos" and "good mornings" to passers-by – as long as the weather's warm. Most people stay polite through the holiday season, but after that, all bets are off. As the weather begins to border on unbearably cold, Chicago residents lose their patience, acting as if they're in a hurry to be somewhere – whether or not that's actually the case.

Alex Mayster

While just 90 minutes from downtown Chicago, Rockford is no suburb. The Illinois city has attractions for locals to enjoy, including a minor league hockey team, a downtown entertainment arena, the outdoor Starlight Theatre and a Japanese garden.

Rockford’s economy has long relied on manufacturing, but its major industries have evolved over time. In the 1920s, Rockford was one of the country’s largest makers of furniture. Then, it became the nation’s top producer of fasteners, earning it the nickname Screw Capital of the World. Today, Rockford’s economy is tied tightly to the aerospace industry. It also has three large hospital systems and serves as a logistics hub, with a large cargo airport and access to Interstate 90.

Alex Gary

Peoria is a relative bargain, owing mostly to manageable real estate prices. Complementing that situation are below-norm costs for utilities and transportation.

Offsetting central Illinois' advantages are high taxes relative to the rest of the nation, especially property and sales taxes. Peoria assesses additional taxes on stormwater runoff; on various utilities such as electricity, gas, telephone service and water; and on hotels, restaurants and amusement activities. The city also charges fees to fund residential garbage pickup and public safety employee pensions.

Michael E. Bailey

The Quad Cities are affordable on both sides of the river. Both Iowa and Illinois have average home prices lower than the national average, and Davenport, Moline and Rock Island have average home prices lower than the state averages. While property prices are good, both states have high taxes.

Megan Valley

The cost of living in Chicago varies greatly by neighborhood. In north Chicago neighborhoods like the Near North Side, Lake View and Lincoln Park, it's common to see homes sell for more than $1 million, while homes sell for a fraction of that in other parts of the city.

Chicago is known for its diversity, which is broadly displayed in neighborhoods like Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown and the Polish Triangle, among others. In fact, more than a third of residents speak a language other than English at home.

In the Chicago metro area, more than 70% of adults identify as Christian and more than a third are Catholic, according to Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study.

Alex Mayster

The Quad Cities are changing, but not evenly. Scott County, Iowa – where Davenport and Bettendorf are located – and Rock Island County – where Moline and Rock Island are based – both have aging populations. But while Scott County is growing, Rock Island County is hemorrhaging residents. Meanwhile, Bettendorf is on pace to become larger than Rock Island within a few years and attracts a lot of families.

Megan Valley, U.S. News & World Report

Rockford’s low housing costs attract a number of families who work in areas such as Milwaukee, Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin. But the affordability of housing in the Rockford region is offset somewhat by high property taxes.

Despite its unpredictable Midwestern winters, Rockford is an increasingly popular place to retire, in part because of its low housing costs.

Alex Gary