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 IAR test scores by the Illinois State Board of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.

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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)
170993001155	841	Whistler Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	11533 S Ada St	Chicago	60643	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-5560	257	14	18.3	91.8%	0 (0.0%)	250 (97.3%)	5 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	$23,165			$3,358			$19,808	33.8	26.1	991	150
170917006007	842	Joseph Arthur Middle School	Public	5-8	160 Saint Ellen Mine Rd	O Fallon	62269	St. Clair County	Central School District 104	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 632-6336	252	20	12.6	63.1%	99 (39.3%)	87 (34.5%)	28 (11.1%)	15 (6.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (8.7%)	$12,339			$658			$11,681	33.6	36.3	831	11
170777000394	843	Wolf Ridge Education Center	Public	PK, KG-7	700 W Orange St	Bunker Hill	62014	Macoupin County	Bunker Hill CUSD 8	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(618) 585-4831	352	25	13.9	40.1%	327 (92.9%)	2 (0.6%)	9 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (4.0%)	$12,388			$904			$11,484	33.6	42.1	730	113
170140306527	844	North Mac Middle School	Public	6-8	525 N 3rd St	Girard	62640	Macoupin County	North Mac CUSD 34	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 627-2136	239	20	12.1	54.8%	220 (92.1%)	1 (0.4%)	7 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.6%)	$13,883			$479			$13,403	33.6	28.9	936	92
170993001031	845	Washington H Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	9130 S University Ave	Chicago	60619	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-6225	233	20	11.6	97.0%	0 (0.0%)	217 (93.1%)	15 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$24,779			$5,218			$19,561	33.5	21.6	1084	239
170993004726	846	Talman Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	5450 S Talman Ave	Chicago	60632	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-7850	346	22	15.7	91.3%	7 (2.0%)	4 (1.2%)	331 (95.7%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	$21,359			$3,583			$17,776	33.5	41.7	742	104
170993000984	847	Murray Elementary Language Academy	Public	K-8	5335 S Kenwood Ave	Chicago	60615	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 535-0585	458	28	16.2	63.5%	11 (2.4%)	404 (88.2%)	20 (4.4%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.6%)	$17,009			$2,469			$14,540	33.5	36	835	12
173093003221	848	Pawnee Junior/Senior High School	Public	7-12	810 4th St	Pawnee	62558	Sangamon County	Pawnee CUSD 11	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(217) 625-2471	259	25	10.5	11.6%	245 (94.6%)	4 (1.5%)	3 (1.2%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.9%)	$15,966			$718			$15,248	33.2	53	548	300
170993000934	849	Lyon Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	2941 N McVicker Ave	Chicago	60634	Cook County	Chicago Public Schools District 299	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(773) 534-3120	980	72	13.6	87.3%	43 (4.4%)	10 (1.0%)	897 (91.5%)	19 (1.9%)	5 (0.5%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	$16,811			$3,154			$13,657	33	37.4	810	39
173849003926	850	V I T Junior High School	Public	6-8	1500 E US Highway 136	Table Grove	61482	Fulton County	V I T Cusd 2	No	(n/a)	(n/a)	Yes	(309) 758-5136	79	7	10.8	50.6%	72 (91.1%)	1 (1.3%)	3 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (3.8%)	$16,050			$2,026			$14,024	33	45.2	687	163

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.