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!

JUST IN! Illinois IAR test scores and updated rankings for the 2023-24 school year were recently posted to SchoolDigger!

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.

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 1363)	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 (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
170993000812	721	Grimes Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5450 W 64th Pl	Chicago	60638	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-2364	395	30	13.1	76.7%	29 (7.3%)	11 (2.8%)	353 (89.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$19,057			$2,652			$16,405	41.5	51.2	583	138
173837005543	722	Heritage Middle School	Public	5-8	19250 Burnham Ave	Lansing	60438	Cook County	Sunnybrook School District 171	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 895-0790	470	35	13.4	38.1%	13 (2.8%)	357 (76.0%)	88 (18.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.1%)	$17,074			$1,148			$15,926	41.5	42.5	721	1
170993001119	723	Swift Elementary Specialty School	Public	PK, KG-8	5900 N Winthrop Ave	Chicago	60660	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-2695	532	42	12.6	82.3%	87 (16.4%)	130 (24.4%)	157 (29.5%)	137 (25.8%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.4%)	$19,327			$3,182			$16,144	41.4	25.5	1003	280
170993000664	724	Clinton Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6110 N Fairfield Ave	Chicago	60659	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-2025	1,016	71	14.3	90.6%	125 (12.3%)	151 (14.9%)	273 (26.9%)	445 (43.8%)	11 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.0%)	$15,935			$2,759			$13,175	41.3	42.1	729	5
173267003390	725	Logan Junior High School	Public	5-8	302 W Central Ave	Princeton	61356	Bureau County	Princeton Education Service District 115	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(815) 875-6415	424	32	13.4	49.3%	380 (89.6%)	9 (2.1%)	23 (5.4%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.9%)	$14,679			$383			$14,295	41.2	34.3	856	131
173708003814	726	Benjamin Franklin Middle School	Public	6-8	1200 Outer Park Dr	Springfield	62704	Sangamon County	Springfield School District 186	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 787-3006	713	52	13.7	52.6%	258 (36.2%)	308 (43.2%)	32 (4.5%)	44 (6.2%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	67 (9.4%)	$23,831			$3,822			$20,010	41.1	39.5	781	55
173708003773	727	Springfield Ball Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	2530 E Ash St	Springfield	62703	Sangamon County	Springfield School District 186	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	No	(217) 525-3275	384	25	15.3	54.9%	164 (42.7%)	144 (37.5%)	18 (4.7%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	55 (14.3%)	$14,901			$194			$14,707	41.1	39.2	785	58
173228003371	728	Pope County Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	125 State Highway 146 W	Golconda	62938	Pope County	Pope County CUD 1	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 683-4011	319	25	12.7	63.6%	299 (93.7%)	2 (0.6%)	6 (1.9%)	2 (0.6%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.5%)	$13,361			$1,185			$12,176	41.1	37.2	813	85
173768003880	729	Columbia Central School	Public	5-8	94 Richton Rd	Steger	60475	Cook County	Steger School District 194	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(708) 753-4700	616	40	15.4	84.3%	139 (22.6%)	185 (30.0%)	233 (37.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	57 (9.3%)	$17,854			$2,533			$15,321	41	29.5	924	195
170993006108	730	West Ridge Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	6700 N Whipple St	Chicago	60645	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-8250	634	46	13.9	82.2%	211 (33.3%)	71 (11.2%)	128 (20.2%)	187 (29.5%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (5.5%)	$19,153			$2,737			$16,416	41	53.4	539	191

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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 test scores released by the Illinois State Board of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 30, 2024, 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.