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
431	Watseka Junior High School	Public	6-8	138 S Belmont Ave	Watseka	60970	Iroquois County	Iroquois County CUSD 9	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 432-2115	202	18	11.2	62.9%	152 (75.2%)	4 (2.0%)	35 (17.3%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (5.0%)	$17,900			$816			$17,084	64.4	69.3	354	77		172017000820
432	Central Middle School	Public	6-8	18146 Oak Park Ave	Tinley Park	60477	Cook County	Ccsd 146	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 614-4510	725	61	11.8	39.4%	408 (56.3%)	74 (10.2%)	150 (20.7%)	11 (1.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (11.2%)	$19,349			$602			$18,747	64.4	44.2	686	254		173903003959
433	Bement Middle School	Public	6-8	201 S Champaign St	Bement	61813	Piatt County	Bement CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 678-4200	63	5	11.8	33.3%	60 (95.2%)	1 (1.6%)	1 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.6%)	$17,646			$1,229			$16,417	64.3	61.3	434	1		170582004541
434	Mt Zion Junior High School	Public	7-8	315 S Henderson St	Mount Zion	62549	Macon County	Mt Zion CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	No	No	(217) 864-2369	378	23	16.3	26.7%	330 (87.3%)	9 (2.4%)	13 (3.4%)	7 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (5.0%)	$11,445			$436			$11,009	64.2	59.6	454	20		172739002905
435	Franklin Elementary Fine Arts Center	Public	K-8	225 W Evergreen Ave	Chicago	60610	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	No	(773) 534-8510	348	26	13.3	49.7%	77 (22.1%)	180 (51.7%)	51 (14.7%)	12 (3.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (7.8%)	$18,522			$1,375			$17,147	64.2	66.7	383	52		170993000777
436	Big Hollow Middle School	Public	5-8	26051 W Nippersink Rd	Ingleside	60041	Lake County	Big Hollow School District 38	No	(n/a)	No	No	(847) 740-5322	744	54	13.7	32.5%	379 (50.9%)	48 (6.5%)	242 (32.5%)	30 (4.0%)	4 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	40 (5.4%)	$15,391			$327			$15,063	64.1	58.8	467	31		170627000307
437	Antioch Upper Grade School	Public	6-8	800 Highview Dr	Antioch	60002	Lake County	Antioch CCSD 34	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 838-8310	875	67	13	30.7%	577 (65.9%)	41 (4.7%)	175 (20.0%)	18 (2.1%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	59 (6.7%)	$14,879			$323			$14,555	64	69.7	348	89		170384000072
438	Wauconda Middle School	Public	6-8	217 Slocum Lake Rd	Wauconda	60084	Lake County	Wauconda CUSD 118	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 526-2122	506	42	11.9	33.2%	330 (65.2%)	6 (1.2%)	142 (28.1%)	16 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.4%)	$19,827			$826			$19,001	64	58	481	43		174119004121
439	Goethe Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2236 N Rockwell St	Chicago	60647	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-4135	711	53	13.5	42.9%	159 (22.4%)	45 (6.3%)	456 (64.1%)	17 (2.4%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (4.4%)	$17,791			$1,545			$16,245	64	53.7	546	107		170993000794
440	Lincoln Middle School	Public	6-8	145 West St	Edwardsville	62025	Madison County	Edwardsville CUSD 7	No	(n/a)	No	No	(618) 656-0485	736	55	13.3	25.7%	551 (74.9%)	67 (9.1%)	43 (5.8%)	14 (1.9%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	58 (7.9%)	$15,403			$427			$14,977	63.8	52.5	564	124		171353001640

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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

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.