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
311	Ramsey High School	Public	6-12	702 W 6th St	Ramsey	62080	Fayette County	Ramsey CUSD 204	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 423-2333	181	16	11.5	66.9%	170 (93.9%)	2 (1.1%)	2 (1.1%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.8%)	$15,037			$1,451			$13,587	74	78.7	242	69		173309003435
312	West Prairie Junior High School	Public	7-8	600 S Hun St	Colchester	62326	McDonough County	West Prairie CUSD 103	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 776-3220	80	8	9.8	40.0%	76 (95.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.3%)	1 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.5%)	$21,670			$545			$21,125	73.9	57.8	484	172		170031405702
313	Chadwick-Milledgeville Junior High School	Public	6-12	100 E 8th St	Milledgeville	61051	Carroll County	Chadwick-Milledgeville CUSD 399	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 225-7141	183	19	9.6	43.2%	174 (95.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.7%)	$19,014			$479			$18,535	73.8	79.1	235	78		170940005404
314	Kinzie Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5625 S Mobile Ave	Chicago	60638	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-2425	637	51	12.4	61.5%	101 (15.9%)	29 (4.6%)	501 (78.6%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$21,709			$2,588			$19,121	73.8	79.2	234	80		170993000890
315	Limestone Middle School	Public	5-8	963 N 5000W Rd	Kankakee	60901	Kankakee County	Herscher CUSD 2	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 933-2243	468	37	12.8	33.5%	438 (93.6%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (3.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.8%)	$16,249			$378			$15,871	73.8	71	332	17		171884002171
316	Wilmington Middle School	Public	6-8	715 S Joliet St	Wilmington	60481	Will County	Wilmington CUSD 209U	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 926-1687	254	21	12.2	46.9%	218 (85.8%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (8.7%)	5 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.5%)	$17,244			$1,872			$15,371	73.7	77.9	253	63		174263004283
317	Elwood C C School	Public	PK, KG-8	409 N Chicago St	Elwood	60421	Will County	Elwood CCSD 203	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 423-5588	331	33	10	29.9%	195 (58.9%)	31 (9.4%)	92 (27.8%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.3%)	$23,223			$540			$22,683	73.7	73.9	294	23		171416001763
318	Peotone Junior High School	Public	6-8	1 Blue Devil Dr	Peotone	60468	Will County	Peotone CUSD 207U	No	(n/a)	No	No	(708) 258-3246	294	22	13.3	31.0%	227 (77.2%)	6 (2.0%)	48 (16.3%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.7%)	$18,800			$344			$18,456	73.6	65.9	389	71		173129003304
319	GCMS Middle School	Public	6-8	316 E 19th St	Gibson City	60936	Ford County	Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 784-8731	211	21	10.1	38.9%	176 (83.4%)	1 (0.5%)	21 (10.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.7%)	$18,080			$897			$17,182	73.6	64.6	398	79		170004100268
320	Columbia Explorers Elementary Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	4520 S Kedzie Ave	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-4050	718	54	13.4	86.2%	9 (1.3%)	6 (0.8%)	695 (96.8%)	5 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$18,874			$2,411			$16,463	73.5	63	416	96		170993004277

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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, 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:

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

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.