Best Middle Schools in Illinois

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Find the best Illinois middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Illinois test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the IAR test scores by the Illinois State Board of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 1363)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
170993001118	671	Sutherland Elementary School	Public	K-8	10015 S Leavitt St	Chicago	60643	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(773) 535-2580	631	44	14.5	36.3%	172 (27.3%)	361 (57.2%)	67 (10.6%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (4.6%)	$17,662			$2,450			$15,212	44.9	47.6	637	34
170012300876	672	Meridian Middle School	Public	6-8	728 S Wall St	Macon	62544	Macon County	Meridian CUSD 15	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 764-3367	202	15	13.2	44.1%	183 (90.6%)	5 (2.5%)	6 (3.0%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (3.0%)	$12,236			$685			$11,551	44.9	46.9	651	21
170993000669	673	Columbus Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1003 N Leavitt St	Chicago	60622	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-4350	273	19	14.7	75.1%	168 (61.5%)	28 (10.3%)	62 (22.7%)	6 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.3%)	$17,540			$2,878			$14,663	44.8	39.6	778	105
170639000308	674	Bismarck-Henning Junior High School	Public	5-8	17302 E 2750 North Rd	Bismarck	61814	Vermilion County	Bismarck Henning CUSD	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 759-7301	251	19	13	50.6%	219 (87.3%)	6 (2.4%)	12 (4.8%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (5.2%)	$12,572			$307			$12,265	44.8	66.8	367	307
170942000549	675	Edison Middle School	Public	6-8	306 W Green St	Champaign	61820	Champaign County	Champaign CUSD 4	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 351-3771	646	49	13.2	38.1%	264 (40.9%)	221 (34.2%)	64 (9.9%)	42 (6.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	54 (8.4%)	$18,295			$2,681			$15,614	44.8	49.3	603	72
170993000770	676	Fernwood Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	10041 S Union Ave	Chicago	60628	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2700	255	15	17.5	94.1%	0 (0.0%)	239 (93.7%)	4 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (4.7%)	$20,373			$3,199			$17,174	44.7	37.6	809	133
171135001360	677	Lundahl Middle School	Public	6-8	560 Nash Rd	Crystal Lake	60014	McHenry County	Crystal Lake CCSD 47	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 459-5971	794	60	13.3	37.0%	484 (61.0%)	13 (1.6%)	245 (30.9%)	27 (3.4%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	23 (2.9%)	$13,719			$711			$13,008	44.5	52.9	552	125
170981000578	678	Chester Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	650 Opdyke St	Chester	62233	Randolph County	Chester CUSD 139	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 826-2354	637	47	13.4	54.8%	516 (81.0%)	7 (1.1%)	90 (14.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (3.5%)	$12,588			$1,742			$10,847	44.5	52.6	558	120
173672003779	679	McKinley Junior High School	Public	6-8	16949 Cottage Grove Ave	South Holland	60473	Cook County	South Holland School District 150	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 339-8500	315	22	14.3	82.2%	2 (0.6%)	285 (90.5%)	25 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	$18,673			$1,342			$17,332	44.5	36.8	824	145
173577005019	680	Selmaville Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	3185 Selmaville Rd	Salem	62881	Marion County	Selmaville CCSD 10	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 548-2416	231	17	13.5	46.8%	212 (91.8%)	3 (1.3%)	6 (2.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.9%)	$13,688			$1,821			$11,867	44.4	29.3	929	249

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for IL student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Homeless Students Disabled Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on IAR English Language Arts, IAR Mathematics test scores released by the Illinois State Board of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Illinois State Board of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.