Best Middle Schools in Illinois

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

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.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

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
281	Hawthorn Middle School North	Public	6-8	201 W Hawthorn Pkwy	Vernon Hills	60061	Lake County	Hawthorn CCSD 73	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 990-4400	627	55	11.3	33.3%	289 (46.1%)	28 (4.5%)	135 (21.5%)	149 (23.8%)	5 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (3.3%)	$17,783			$345			$17,438	76.8	82.6	207	74		171857002149
282	Orion Middle School	Public	6-8	800 12th Ave	Orion	61273	Henry County	Orion CUSD 223	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 526-3392	244	17	14.2	19.3%	233 (95.5%)	2 (0.8%)	4 (1.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.6%)	$12,499			$30			$12,469	76.8	70.8	336	54		173020003121
283	Monroe Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5137 W Cisna Rd	Bartonville	61607	Peoria County	Monroe School District 70	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(309) 697-3120	274	21	13	44.9%	229 (83.6%)	9 (3.3%)	16 (5.8%)	4 (1.5%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (5.5%)	$13,568			$660			$12,908	76.8	74.2	292	9		172649002840
284	Roanoke-Benson Junior High School	Public	5-8	131 W Reiter St	Benson	61516	Woodford County	Roanoke Benson CUSD 60	No	(n/a)	No	No	(309) 394-2233	142	11	13.3	24.6%	133 (93.7%)	2 (1.4%)	3 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.8%)	$13,893			$138			$13,755	76.7	75.5	279	5		173414003502
285	Albion Grade School	Public	PK, KG-8	361 W Main St	Albion	62806	Edwards County	Edwards County CUSD 1	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 445-2327	427	30	14	47.1%	398 (93.2%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.7%)	$11,754			$1,117			$10,637	76.6	79.4	231	54		171350001634
286	Warren Junior/Senior High School	Public	6-12	311 S Water St	Warren	61087	Jo Daviess County	Warren CUSD 205	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 745-2641	191	18	10.6	49.7%	172 (90.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.8%)	$16,190			$275			$15,915	76.6	54.3	537	251		174074004094
287	Wesclin Middle School	Public	4-8	10003 State Route 160	Trenton	62293	Clinton County	Wesclin CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	No	No	(618) 224-7355	492	37	13.4	35.4%	420 (85.4%)	6 (1.2%)	37 (7.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (5.5%)	$11,230			$593			$10,637	76.3	71.8	327	40		173942006347
288	Waltham Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2902 N Il Route 178	Utica	61373	LaSalle County	Waltham CCSD 185	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 667-4417	246	24	10.4		206 (83.7%)	1 (0.4%)	28 (11.4%)	4 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	5 (2.0%)	$18,592			$704			$17,887	76.2	82.8	203	85		174062004085
289	Carterville Junior High School	Public	7-8	816 S Division St	Carterville	62918	Williamson County	Carterville CUSD 5	No	(n/a)	No	No	(618) 985-4500	344	23	14.8	45.3%	272 (79.1%)	9 (2.6%)	26 (7.6%)	8 (2.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (8.1%)	$12,153			$311			$11,842	76.1	85.5	164	125		170864000505
290	Galena Elementary and Middle School	Public	PK, KG-8	1230 Franklin St	Galena	61036	Jo Daviess County	Galena Unified School District 120	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 777-2413	576	48	12	30.7%	462 (80.2%)	13 (2.3%)	87 (15.1%)	10 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	$12,482			$476			$12,006	75.7	81.1	215	75		171605001914

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Illinois

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

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

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.