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
321	Dr ML King Junior Literary&Fine Arts	Public	K-8	2424 Lake St	Evanston	60201	Cook County	Evanston CCSD 65	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 859-8500	421	51	8.2	50.1%	123 (29.2%)	162 (38.5%)	55 (13.1%)	19 (4.5%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (13.1%)	$29,618			$1,404			$28,214	73.4	67.9	364	43		171446001794
322	Monticello Middle School	Public	6-8	2015 E Washington St	Monticello	61856	Piatt County	Monticello CUSD 25	No	(n/a)	No	No	(217) 762-8511	405	28	14.5	23.0%	371 (91.6%)	8 (2.0%)	9 (2.2%)	7 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.5%)	$11,298			$242			$11,056	73.4	76.8	268	54		172655005715
323	Highland Middle School	Public	6-8	400 Broadway	Highland	62249	Madison County	Highland CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	No	No	(618) 651-8800	616	44	13.8	30.2%	577 (93.7%)	5 (0.8%)	9 (1.5%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (3.4%)	$12,239			$735			$11,504	73.3	73.5	303	20		171899002180
324	Cambridge Junior/Senior High School	Public	6-12	300 S West St	Cambridge	61238	Henry County	Cambridge CUSD 227	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 937-2051	237	21	11.2	48.1%	233 (98.3%)	3 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$15,244			$482			$14,762	73.3	62.3	424	100		170816000429
325	Evans Junior High School	Public	6-8	2901 Morrissey Dr	Bloomington	61704	McLean County	McLean County Unified School District 5	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 557-4406	778	55	14.1	30.3%	387 (49.7%)	69 (8.9%)	121 (15.6%)	147 (18.9%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (6.6%)	$14,422			$475			$13,947	73.2	69	356	31		172862006180
326	Litchfield Middle School	Public	6-8	1701 N State St	Litchfield	62056	Montgomery County	Litchfield CUSD 12	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 324-4668	282	23	12.2	62.8%	261 (92.6%)	1 (0.4%)	6 (2.1%)	6 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.8%)	$14,343			$731			$13,612	73.2	78.8	239	87		172325002559
327	Heritage JH and Elementary School	Public	K-8	512 W 1st St	Homer	61849	Champaign County	Heritage CUSD 8	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 896-2421	270	26	10.5	44.1%	234 (86.7%)	2 (0.7%)	17 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (6.3%)	$17,843			$830			$17,012	73.2	67.8	366	39		170010605363
328	J Giles Elementary School	Public	5-8	4251 N Oriole Ave	Norridge	60706	Cook County	Norridge School District 80	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(708) 453-4847	499	31	16.3	43.1%	343 (68.7%)	0 (0.0%)	94 (18.8%)	54 (10.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.6%)	$11,874			$581			$11,293	73.1	69.7	349	21		172865006555
329	Auburn Junior High at Divernon	Public	6-8	303 E Kenney St	Divernon	62530	Sangamon County	Auburn CUSD 10	No	(n/a)	No	No	(217) 628-3611	236	20	11.9	41.1%	211 (89.4%)	4 (1.7%)	9 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (5.1%)	$13,456			$933			$12,522	73	60	447	118		170462000141
330	Lindblom Math & Science Academy High School	Public	7-12	6130 S Wolcott Ave	Chicago	60636	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-9300	1,316	85	15.4	57.8%	33 (2.5%)	862 (65.5%)	394 (29.9%)	6 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	17 (1.3%)	$17,280			$1,882			$15,398	73	60.9	436	106		170993005791

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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.