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
191	New Athens Junior High	Public	6-8	501 Hanft St	New Athens	62264	St. Clair County	New Athens CUSD 60	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 475-2172	95	7	13.9	34.7%	90 (94.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.1%)	$10,162			$102			$10,059	84.1	88.3	129	62		172796004764
192	Cass Junior High School	Public	5-8	8502 Bailey Rd	Darien	60561	DuPage County	Cass School District 63	No	(n/a)	No	No	(331) 481-4000	313	26	11.8	24.0%	202 (64.5%)	12 (3.8%)	39 (12.5%)	41 (13.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	18 (5.8%)	$17,060			$626			$16,434	84	81.5	212	20		170879000519
193	Lincoln Magnet School	Public	6-8	300 S 11th St	Springfield	62703	Sangamon County	Springfield School District 186	No	(n/a)	No	No	(217) 525-3236	300	25	12	37.7%	150 (50.0%)	84 (28.0%)	9 (3.0%)	17 (5.7%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (12.7%)	$22,394			$1,936			$20,458	83.9	84	191	2		173708003830
194	Marlowe Middle School	Public	6-8	9625 Haligus Rd	Lake in the Hills	60156	McHenry County	Huntley Community School District 158	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 659-4700	1,215	88	13.8	20.4%	826 (68.0%)	54 (4.4%)	203 (16.7%)	87 (7.2%)	8 (0.7%)	3 (0.2%)	34 (2.8%)	$15,276			$291			$14,986	83.8	83.1	201	7		171983005641
195	Bednarcik Junior High School	Public	6-8	3025 Heggs Rd	Aurora	60503	Will County	Cusd 308	No	(n/a)	No	No	(630) 636-2500	535	37	14.3	25.4%	231 (43.2%)	58 (10.8%)	93 (17.4%)	126 (23.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (4.9%)	$17,585			$397			$17,189	83.8	83.4	199	4		173027004768
196	Iuka Community Cons School	Public	PK, KG-8	405 S Main St	Iuka	62849	Marion County	Iuka CCSD 7	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 323-6233	231	16	14.9	57.1%	217 (93.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	2 (0.9%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.0%)	$14,450			$1,872			$12,578	83.7	79.9	229	33		172025002277
197	Benjamin Middle School	Public	5-8	28W300 Saint Charles Rd	West Chicago	60185	DuPage County	Benjamin School District 25	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(630) 876-7820	259	27	9.5		149 (57.5%)	13 (5.0%)	54 (20.8%)	38 (14.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.9%)	$25,212			$495			$24,717	83.6	84.2	187	10		170588000264
198	Ward J Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2701 S Shields Ave	Chicago	60616	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-9050	500	33	15.1	79.0%	22 (4.4%)	32 (6.4%)	52 (10.4%)	384 (76.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.0%)	$18,340			$1,904			$16,437	83.4	77.1	264	66		170993001143
199	Ravenswood Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	4332 N Paulina St	Chicago	60613	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	No	(773) 534-5525	522	37	14.3	32.2%	251 (48.1%)	44 (8.4%)	151 (28.9%)	26 (5.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	49 (9.4%)	$18,553			$1,510			$17,043	83.4	84	193	6		170993001050
200	Manhattan Junior High School	Public	6-8	15414 W Smith Rd	Manhattan	60442	Will County	Manhattan School District 114	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 478-6090	615	44	13.9	16.9%	515 (83.7%)	20 (3.3%)	63 (10.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.4%)	$11,297			$262			$11,035	83.3	84.7	180	20		172427001557

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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

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.