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
151	Union Elementary School	Public	K-8	1661 Cherry Hill Rd	Joliet	60433	Will County	Union School District 81	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 726-5218	143	12	11.5	37.1%	51 (35.7%)	13 (9.1%)	66 (46.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (9.1%)	$29,435			$779			$28,656	87.9	78.8	241	90		173966004004
152	Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School	Public	6-8	201 W State St	Mahomet	61853	Champaign County	Mahomet-Seymour CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(217) 586-4415	812	54	15.1	23.3%	689 (84.9%)	20 (2.5%)	43 (5.3%)	14 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	45 (5.5%)	$11,101			$526			$10,575	87.8	86.8	145	7		172406002628
153	Iroquois Community School	Public	K-8	1836 E Touhy Ave	Des Plaines	60018	Cook County	Ccsd 62	No	(n/a)	No	No	(847) 824-1308	411	34	12	28.2%	210 (51.1%)	8 (1.9%)	94 (22.9%)	77 (18.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (5.4%)	$24,677			$914			$23,762	87.8	89.7	117	36		171212001465
154	Lisle Junior High School	Public	6-8	5207 Center Ave	Lisle	60532	DuPage County	Lisle CUSD 202	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(630) 493-8200	338	32	10.7	33.1%	195 (57.7%)	24 (7.1%)	82 (24.3%)	14 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (6.8%)	$25,790			$471			$25,320	87.8	86.2	155	1		172320002554
155	South Loop Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1601 S Dearborn St	Chicago	60616	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	No	(773) 534-8690	847	51	16.6	27.9%	260 (30.7%)	285 (33.6%)	112 (13.2%)	112 (13.2%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	76 (9.0%)	$16,526			$1,245			$15,281	87.7	92	95	60		170993005268
156	Eureka Middle School	Public	5-8	2005 S Main St	Eureka	61530	Woodford County	Eureka CUD 140	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 467-3771	436	29	15	25.5%	395 (90.6%)	3 (0.7%)	15 (3.4%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.6%)	$10,956			$449			$10,506	87.6	89.6	118	38		171443001782
157	Princeville High School	Public	6-12	302 Cordis Ave	Princeville	61559	Peoria County	Princeville CUSD 326	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 385-4660	350	28	12.3	36.9%	305 (87.1%)	2 (0.6%)	34 (9.7%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.0%)	$15,323			$318			$15,004	87.6	91.5	104	53		173277003396
158	Highland Middle School	Public	6-8	310 W Rockland Rd	Libertyville	60048	Lake County	Libertyville School District 70	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 362-9020	701	67	10.5		544 (77.6%)	14 (2.0%)	65 (9.3%)	35 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (6.1%)	$23,337			$60			$23,277	87.5	92.7	85	73		172280002529
159	Thomas Metcalf School	Public	PK, KG-8	ISU Campus Box 7000	Normal	61790	McLean County	ISU Laboratory Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(309) 438-7621	459	53	8.6	7.0%	324 (70.6%)	15 (3.3%)	47 (10.2%)	40 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (7.2%)								87.5	95.1	51	108		170009904504
160	Heyworth Junior-Senior High School	Public	7-12	308 W Cleveland St	Heyworth	61745	McLean County	Heyworth CUSD 4	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 473-2322	401	28	14.5	22.7%	374 (93.3%)	1 (0.2%)	13 (3.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.0%)	$16,016			$419			$15,597	87.3	67.5	370	210		171887002174

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.