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
171	Tri-Valley Middle School	Public	4-8	505 E Washington St	Downs	61736	McLean County	Tri Valley CUSD 3	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(309) 378-3414	450	31	14.7	8.7%	404 (89.8%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (4.4%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.7%)	$11,348			$255			$11,094	86.3	87.2	139	32		171392001735
172	Jefferson Junior High School	Public	6-8	1525 N Loomis St	Naperville	60563	DuPage County	Naperville CUSD 203	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(630) 420-6363	832	68	12.2	29.1%	392 (47.1%)	58 (7.0%)	205 (24.6%)	131 (15.7%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	42 (5.0%)	$20,225			$423			$19,802	86.3	84.5	182	10		172771002933
173	Byron Middle School	Public	6-8	325 N Colfax St	Byron	61010	Ogle County	Byron CUSD 226	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 234-5491	366	29	12.6	21.0%	311 (85.0%)	1 (0.3%)	37 (10.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (4.6%)	$17,858			$291			$17,567	86.2	77.4	262	89		170801000408
174	Prairieview-Ogden Junior High School	Public	7-8	2499 County Road 2100 E	Thomasboro	61878	Champaign County	Prairieview-Ogden CCSD 197	No	(n/a)	No	No	(217) 694-4122	68	6	11.5	20.6%	66 (97.1%)	1 (1.5%)	1 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,777			$255			$13,522	86.1	93.6	75	99		170033005766
175	Chicago World Language Academy	Public	K-8	1340 W Harrison St	Chicago	60607	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	No	(773) 534-7000	449	31	14.6	38.8%	45 (10.0%)	169 (37.6%)	125 (27.8%)	82 (18.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.0%)	$17,084			$1,289			$15,795	86	76.8	266	91		170993000868
176	Somonauk Middle School	Public	5-8	510 W Lasalle St	Somonauk	60552	DeKalb County	Somonauk CUSD 432	No	(n/a)	No	No	(815) 498-1866	249	16	15.5	38.6%	209 (83.9%)	2 (0.8%)	30 (12.0%)	4 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.6%)	$16,205			$275			$15,931	86	93.2	81	95		173657004322
177	Barrington Middle School Station	Public	6-8	215 Eastern Ave	Barrington	60010	Cook County	Barrington CUSD 220	No	(n/a)	No	No	(847) 756-6400	886	71	12.4	19.4%	560 (63.2%)	10 (1.1%)	146 (16.5%)	120 (13.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	50 (5.6%)	$22,437			$524			$21,913	85.9	90.8	107	70		170505000192
178	South Middle School	Public	6-8	400 S Highland Ave	Arlington Heights	60005	Cook County	Arlington Heights School District 25	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(847) 398-4250	812	67	12	15.6%	679 (83.6%)	8 (1.0%)	73 (9.0%)	50 (6.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	$19,127			$859			$18,268	85.9	88.7	126	52		170414000105
179	O Neill Middle School	Public	7-8	635 59th St	Downers Grove	60516	DuPage County	Downers Grove GSD 58	No	(n/a)	No	No	(630) 719-5815	403	30	13.6	21.6%	268 (66.5%)	16 (4.0%)	68 (16.9%)	22 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.2%)	$19,526			$998			$18,528	85.8	75.7	277	98		171254001514
180	STEM Magnet Academy Elementary	Public	K-8	1522 W Fillmore St	Chicago	60607	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	No	No	(773) 534-7300	397	28	14.4	49.9%	20 (5.0%)	136 (34.3%)	83 (20.9%)	145 (36.5%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	11 (2.8%)	$17,231			$1,733			$15,498	85.4	93.4	78	102		170993006173

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.