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
1101	Schuyler Industry Middle School	Public	5-8	750 N Congress St	Rushville	62681	Schuyler County	Schuyler-Industry CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(217) 322-4311	252	19	13.6	56.0%	220 (87.3%)	12 (4.8%)	6 (2.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (5.2%)	$14,603			$1,596			$13,007	20.7	18.4	1138	37		170033206548
1102	Coles Elementary Language Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	8441 S Yates Blvd	Chicago	60617	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-6550	286	22	12.8	60.8%	0 (0.0%)	252 (88.1%)	31 (10.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	$23,265			$3,768			$19,497	20.7	23	1040	62		170993000666
1103	Harvard Junior High School	Public	6-8	1301 Garfield St	Harvard	60033	McHenry County	Harvard CUSD 50	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 943-6466	593	51	11.6	59.9%	152 (25.6%)	3 (0.5%)	424 (71.5%)	5 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.5%)	$17,228			$698			$16,530	20.4	19.9	1099	4		171842002126
1104	Colin Powell Middle School	Public	6-8	20600 Matteson Ave	Matteson	60443	Cook County	Education Service District 159	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 283-9600	564	42	13.3	68.3%	8 (1.4%)	459 (81.4%)	69 (12.2%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (4.3%)	$25,168			$1,265			$23,903	20.4	16	1202	98		173630005774
1105	Ryder Elementary Math & Sci Special School	Public	PK, KG-8	8716 S Wallace St	Chicago	60620	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-3843	351	33	10.8	92.3%	3 (0.9%)	333 (94.9%)	15 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$28,845			$3,238			$25,606	20.4	32.3	859	246		170993001065
1106	Smith W Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	744 E 103rd St	Chicago	60628	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 535-5689	340	31	10.8	95.3%	0 (0.0%)	323 (95.0%)	13 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	$24,217			$3,315			$20,902	20.3	23.1	1037	69		170993000928
1107	Huntley Middle School	Public	6-8	1515 S 4th St	Dekalb	60115	DeKalb County	DeKalb CUSD 428	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 754-2241	865	73	11.8	63.8%	302 (34.9%)	231 (26.7%)	255 (29.5%)	11 (1.3%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (7.4%)	$19,373			$1,225			$18,147	20.3	24.9	1005	102		171200001450
1108	Larsen Middle School	Public	7-8	665 Dundee Ave	Elgin	60120	Kane County	School District U-46	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 888-5250	570	40	14.3	62.8%	42 (7.4%)	26 (4.6%)	454 (79.6%)	34 (6.0%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (1.6%)	$20,607			$1,739			$18,868	20.3	22.6	1048	60		171371001689
1109	Wentworth Junior High School	Public	6-8	560 Superior Ave	Calumet City	60409	Cook County	Calumet City School District 155	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(708) 862-0750	302	29	10.4	56.6%	3 (1.0%)	168 (55.6%)	119 (39.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.3%)	$22,477			$2,007			$20,470	20.3	15.8	1211	102		174152003426
1110	Dirksen Junior High School	Public	6-8	203 S Midland Ave	Joliet	60436	Will County	Joliet PSD 86	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 729-1566	653	46	14.1	98.2%	55 (8.4%)	145 (22.2%)	426 (65.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (3.8%)	$21,491			$1,843			$19,648	20.3	27	960	150		172058002326

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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.