?WhereToHQ

Ranked · Sun & walkable · Illinois

Best sunny, walkable cities in Illinois

Cities of 25,000+ residents, scored with the “Sun & walkable” weighting the live tool uses, heaviest on sunny days / year, walkability, crime index, january low. Scores are relative to this set; open the tool to change the weights and re-rank.

Re-rank for your priorities
Top 10 · computed ranking

  1. 1.Decatur, IL70k residents

    75/100

    sunny days / year: 190 days · walkability: 34/100 · january low: 20°F

  2. 2.Belleville, IL41k residents

    75/100

    sunny days / year: 190 days · walkability: 30/100 · january low: 24°F

  3. 3.Springfield, IL113k residents

    74/100

    sunny days / year: 190 days · walkability: 38/100 · january low: 19°F

  4. 4.Peoria, IL112k residents

    73/100

    sunny days / year: 190 days · walkability: 38/100 · january low: 18°F

  5. 5.O'Fallon, IL32k residents

    72/100

    sunny days / year: 190 days · walkability: 30/100 · january low: 24°F

  6. 6.Quincy, IL39k residents

    71/100

    sunny days / year: 190 days · walkability: 30/100 · january low: 19°F

  7. 7.Rockford, IL148k residents

    70/100

    sunny days / year: 190 days · walkability: 38/100 · january low: 15°F

  8. 8.Cicero, IL83k residents

    70/100

    sunny days / year: 190 days · walkability: 34/100 · january low: 19°F

  9. 9.Joliet, IL150k residents

    69/100

    sunny days / year: 190 days · walkability: 38/100 · january low: 17°F

  10. 10.Champaign, IL90k residents

    69/100

    sunny days / year: 190 days · walkability: 34/100 · january low: 18°F

Methodology: each city is scored 0–100 by min–max normalizing every weighted facet across this candidate set (direction-aware), identical math to the tool's “Best fit” tab. A different weighting produces a different order, which is the point: this is a starting shortlist, not a verdict.

Questions & answers
Which city is the sunniest and most walkable in Illinois?
Decatur, IL ranks first with a fit score of 75/100, followed by Belleville (75) and Springfield (74), using the "Sun & walkable" weighting.
How is this ranking calculated?
Each of the 10 candidate cities (25,000+ residents) is scored 0 to 100 by min-max normalizing the weighted facets, heaviest on sunny days / year, walkability, crime index, january low, across this set. Change the weights in the live tool and the order changes with them.