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 ISA and IAR test scores by the Illinois State Board of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 30, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 1368)	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 (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
691	Parkside Junior High School	Public	6-8	101 N Parkside Rd	Normal	61761	McLean County	McLean County Unified School District 5	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 557-4408	598	50	11.8	46.2%	343 (57.4%)	110 (18.4%)	80 (13.4%)	12 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (8.9%)	$17,748			$735			$17,013	45.1	40	748	57		172862003004
692	Illini Central Middle School	Public	6-8	208 N West Ave	Mason City	62664	Mason County	Illini Central CUSD 189	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 482-5180	139	12	11.1	45.3%	133 (95.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (2.2%)	$17,539			$664			$16,875	45	39.9	749	57		170011305577
693	Lincoln Junior High School	Public	6-8	208 Broadway St	Lincoln	62656	Logan County	Lincoln Education Service District 27	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 732-3535	321	27	11.7	60.7%	243 (75.7%)	12 (3.7%)	21 (6.5%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (13.1%)	$17,354			$1,641			$15,712	45	60.1	446	247		172298002539
694	Perez Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1241 W 19th St	Chicago	60608	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-7650	291	28	10.3	84.2%	6 (2.1%)	25 (8.6%)	254 (87.3%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.7%)	$24,106			$2,926			$21,180	44.9	23.5	1032	338		170993005410
695	Arbor Park Middle School	Public	5-8	17303 Central Ave	Oak Forest	60452	Cook County	Arbor Park School District 145	No	(n/a)	No	No	(708) 687-5330	520	46	11.3	49.4%	200 (38.5%)	77 (14.8%)	157 (30.2%)	80 (15.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$17,658			$1,182			$16,476	44.8	48.3	610	85		170393000078
696	Wilbur Trimpe Middle School	Public	6-8	910 2nd St	Bethalto	62010	Madison County	Bethalto CUSD 8	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 377-7240	556	39	14.2	46.9%	486 (87.4%)	16 (2.9%)	21 (3.8%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (5.4%)	$12,410			$461			$11,949	44.7	47.1	634	62		170612000302
697	Logan Junior High School	Public	5-8	302 W Central Ave	Princeton	61356	Bureau County	Princeton Education Service District 115	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 875-6415	443	30	14.7	52.8%	393 (88.7%)	6 (1.4%)	33 (7.4%)	4 (0.9%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	$14,064			$623			$13,442	44.7	41.2	725	28		173267003390
698	Lindop Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2400 S 18th Ave	Broadview	60155	Cook County	Lindop School District 92	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 345-3110	307	39	7.8	65.1%	2 (0.7%)	195 (63.5%)	95 (30.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.9%)	$35,233			$3,169			$32,064	44.7	35.7	806	108		171344001633
699	Hoyne Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	8905 S Crandon Ave	Chicago	60617	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-6425	230	20	11.5	69.6%	0 (0.0%)	223 (97.0%)	4 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.3%)	$23,717			$2,997			$20,719	44.7	34	837	138		170993000864
700	Smyser Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4310 N Melvina Ave	Chicago	60634	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-3711	773	55	14.1	62.6%	181 (23.4%)	32 (4.1%)	493 (63.8%)	41 (5.3%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (2.8%)	$17,799			$1,823			$15,975	44.7	42.2	714	14		170993001097

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for IL student subgroups:

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on IAR English Language Arts, IAR Mathematics, ISA Science test scores released by the Illinois State Board of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2025, 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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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

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.