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
511	Farnsworth Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5414 N Linder Ave	Chicago	60630	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-3535	502	44	11.4	38.0%	182 (36.3%)	20 (4.0%)	209 (41.6%)	73 (14.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (3.2%)	$23,035			$2,275			$20,760	57.9	57.5	489	22		170993000764
512	Abingdon-Avon Middle School	Public	6-8	320 E Woods St	Avon	61415	Fulton County	Abingdon-Avon CUSD 276	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(309) 465-3621	204	14	14.7	51.5%	172 (84.3%)	1 (0.5%)	14 (6.9%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (7.4%)	$16,410			$618			$15,793	57.9	58.4	471	41		170141306247
513	Iroquois West Middle School	Public	6-8	303 N Evergreen St	Onarga	60955	Iroquois County	Iroquois West CUSD 10	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 268-4355	215	18	12.2	53.5%	141 (65.6%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (30.2%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.3%)	$13,133			$449			$12,685	57.8	57.3	494	19		172018004925
514	Fox River Grove Middle School	Public	5-8	401 Orchard St	Fox River Grove	60021	McHenry County	Fox River Grove Cons School District 3	No	(n/a)	No	No	(847) 516-5105	174	16	11.2	20.7%	136 (78.2%)	1 (0.6%)	27 (15.5%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (4.6%)	$20,255			$505			$19,750	57.8	30.3	897	383		171566005508
515	Red Bud Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	200 W Field Dr	Red Bud	62278	Randolph County	Red Bud CUSD 132	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(618) 282-3858	582	44	13.3	49.0%	531 (91.2%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (3.4%)	5 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.1%)	$13,329			$529			$12,800	57.7	56.8	499	16		173330003447
516	Orozco Elementary Fine Arts & Sciences	Public	PK, KG-8	1940 W 18th St	Chicago	60608	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(773) 534-7215	280	24	11.6	72.9%	9 (3.2%)	6 (2.1%)	263 (93.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	$22,280			$2,710			$19,570	57.7	77.1	265	251		170993004954
517	Marengo Community Middle School	Public	6-8	816 E Grant Hwy	Marengo	60152	McHenry County	Marengo-Union E Cons D 165	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(815) 568-5720	342	21	16	55.0%	207 (60.5%)	2 (0.6%)	120 (35.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.5%)	$14,148			$844			$13,305	57.7	58.2	477	40		170007703147
518	Richard F Bernotas Middle School	Public	6-8	170 N Oak St	Crystal Lake	60014	McHenry County	Crystal Lake CCSD 47	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 459-9210	737	65	11.4	28.0%	540 (73.3%)	33 (4.5%)	112 (15.2%)	25 (3.4%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (3.4%)	$15,776			$519			$15,257	57.7	56.3	509	9		171135001362
519	Fischer Middle School	Public	6-8	1305 Long Grove Dr	Aurora	60504	DuPage County	Indian Prairie CUSD 204	No	(n/a)	No	No	(630) 375-3100	861	63	13.7	34.5%	274 (31.8%)	110 (12.8%)	286 (33.2%)	141 (16.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (5.8%)	$17,518			$738			$16,780	57.6	59	464	55		174169006041
520	Fieldcrest Middle School	Public	6-8	102 W Elm St	Wenona	61377	Marshall County	Fieldcrest CUSD 6	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 853-4331	196	17	11.6	58.7%	168 (85.7%)	6 (3.1%)	16 (8.2%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	3 (1.5%)	$17,789			$973			$16,815	57.6	67.7	367	153		171510006543

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.