Which Illinois counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 102 Illinois counties we have scored, McLean County scores highest at 96 and Alexander County lowest at 75. Illinois ranks 11th of 50 overall, at 90 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Hazard separates its counties most: 4 to 15 out of 15.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 102 counties · 503 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsIllinois ranks 11th of 50, 90 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #9 and #17. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in Illinois, best score first

Find a county102 counties


McLean → 144 people / sq mi	96	25	19	13	15	14	10
Logan → 45 people / sq mi	95	25	19	14	13	15	9
Macoupin → 51 people / sq mi	95	23	19	13	15	15	10
Clark → 30 people / sq mi	94	22	19	13	15	15	10
Edgar → 26 people / sq mi	94	25	19	13	15	13	9
Jersey → 57 people / sq mi	94	23	19	14	14	14	10
Macon → 173 people / sq mi	94	25	19	13	14	13	10
Moultrie → 43 people / sq mi	94	25	19	13	14	14	9
Peoria → 287 people / sq mi	94	24	19	13	14	14	10
Randolph → 52 people / sq mi	94	23	19	14	13	15	10
Scott → 19 people / sq mi	94	22	19	14	15	14	10
Vermilion → 80 people / sq mi	94	24	19	13	15	13	10
Cass → 34 people / sq mi	93	24	19	14	13	13	10
Coles → 91 people / sq mi	93	24	19	13	15	13	9
De Witt → 39 people / sq mi	93	24	19	13	14	14	9
Fulton → 38 people / sq mi	93	22	19	13	14	15	10
McDonough → 46 people / sq mi	93	22	19	13	15	15	9
Morgan → 57 people / sq mi	93	23	18	14	14	15	9
Pike → 17 people / sq mi	93	22	19	14	15	13	10
Putnam → 35 people / sq mi	93	24	19	13	15	13	9
Stark → 18 people / sq mi	93	24	19	13	15	13	9
Tazewell → 200 people / sq mi	93	25	19	13	13	14	9
Woodford → 73 people / sq mi	93	24	19	13	14	14	9
Adams → 75 people / sq mi	92	21	19	14	15	13	10
Boone → 190 people / sq mi	92	24	19	13	15	12	9
Brown → 21 people / sq mi	92	21	19	14	15	13	10
Bureau → 38 people / sq mi	92	24	19	13	15	12	9
Champaign → 206 people / sq mi	92	25	19	13	15	13	7
Christian → 47 people / sq mi	92	25	19	13	13	13	9
Ford → 27 people / sq mi	92	25	19	13	15	13	7
Greene → 21 people / sq mi	92	22	19	14	15	13	9
Madison → 367 people / sq mi	92	24	19	13	13	13	10
Marshall → 30 people / sq mi	92	23	19	13	14	14	9
Monroe → 91 people / sq mi	92	24	19	14	13	12	10
Schuyler → 15 people / sq mi	92	22	19	13	15	13	10
St. Clair → 382 people / sq mi	92	25	19	13	13	13	9
Winnebago → 548 people / sq mi	92	24	19	12	14	14	9
Douglas → 47 people / sq mi	91	24	19	13	15	13	7
Fayette → 30 people / sq mi	91	21	19	13	14	14	10
Henderson → 16 people / sq mi	91	22	18	13	15	14	9
Kankakee → 157 people / sq mi	91	24	19	13	14	12	9
Menard → 38 people / sq mi	91	23	19	14	14	13	8
Montgomery → 39 people / sq mi	91	22	19	13	14	13	10
Piatt → 38 people / sq mi	91	25	19	13	14	13	7
Sangamon → 223 people / sq mi	91	25	19	14	13	13	7
Shelby → 27 people / sq mi	91	23	18	13	14	13	10
Crawford → 41 people / sq mi	90	24	16	13	14	13	10
Grundy → 128 people / sq mi	90	24	19	13	14	13	7
Henry → 59 people / sq mi	90	23	19	12	14	13	9
Iroquois → 23 people / sq mi	90	23	19	13	15	13	7
Kane → 992 people / sq mi	90	21	19	13	14	14	9
Mason → 23 people / sq mi	90	23	19	13	13	13	9
McHenry → 518 people / sq mi	90	24	19	12	14	12	9
Perry → 46 people / sq mi	90	21	19	13	13	14	10
Saline → 60 people / sq mi	90	23	19	14	10	14	10
Washington → 24 people / sq mi	90	23	19	14	14	13	7
Clay → 28 people / sq mi	89	22	19	13	13	13	9
Cumberland → 30 people / sq mi	89	23	19	13	15	12	7
Hardin → 20 people / sq mi	89	25	19	14	10	12	9
LaSalle → 95 people / sq mi	89	24	19	12	15	12	7
Lawrence → 40 people / sq mi	89	25	18	13	13	13	7
Pope → 10 people / sq mi	89	25	18	14	9	14	9
Rock Island → 330 people / sq mi	89	22	19	13	13	13	9
Stephenson → 76 people / sq mi	89	19	19	13	15	14	9
White → 27 people / sq mi	89	24	19	14	11	14	7
Calhoun → 17 people / sq mi	88	23	19	14	14	11	7
Clinton → 78 people / sq mi	88	23	19	14	13	12	7
Effingham → 72 people / sq mi	88	23	19	13	14	12	7
Franklin → 91 people / sq mi	88	23	19	14	12	13	7
Jackson → 89 people / sq mi	88	21	18	14	11	14	10
Jasper → 19 people / sq mi	88	23	19	13	14	12	7
Kendall → 437 people / sq mi	88	19	19	13	15	13	9
Lee → 46 people / sq mi	88	18	19	13	15	14	9
Livingston → 34 people / sq mi	88	22	19	13	14	13	7
Marion → 64 people / sq mi	88	23	19	13	13	13	7
Mercer → 28 people / sq mi	88	19	19	13	14	14	9
Ogle → 68 people / sq mi	88	18	19	13	15	14	9
Wabash → 49 people / sq mi	88	25	19	13	8	13	10
Whiteside → 80 people / sq mi	88	18	19	13	15	14	9
Bond → 43 people / sq mi	87	22	19	13	14	12	7
Cook → 5384 people / sq mi	87	24	17	12	15	13	6
DeKalb → 159 people / sq mi	87	19	19	13	15	12	9
Hamilton → 18 people / sq mi	87	23	19	14	12	12	7
Jefferson → 64 people / sq mi	87	22	19	13	13	13	7
Jo Daviess → 36 people / sq mi	87	21	16	13	15	13	9
Johnson → 39 people / sq mi	87	25	19	14	9	13	7
Lake → 1598 people / sq mi	87	24	18	12	14	13	6
Massac → 58 people / sq mi	87	23	19	14	8	13	10
Richland → 43 people / sq mi	87	23	19	13	13	12	7
Union → 40 people / sq mi	87	25	19	12	8	13	10
Warren → 30 people / sq mi	87	17	19	13	15	14	9
Wayne → 22 people / sq mi	87	23	19	13	13	12	7
Will → 838 people / sq mi	87	24	19	12	13	12	7
Williamson → 159 people / sq mi	87	20	19	14	10	14	10
Edwards → 27 people / sq mi	86	24	19	13	11	12	7
Knox → 68 people / sq mi	86	18	17	13	15	14	9
Carroll → 35 people / sq mi	85	17	19	12	15	13	9
Hancock → 22 people / sq mi	85	21	17	12	15	13	7
Pulaski → 25 people / sq mi	85	24	16	14	8	13	10
DuPage → 2810 people / sq mi	84	22	17	13	14	12	6
Gallatin → 15 people / sq mi	78	24	19	14	7	11	3
Alexander → 20 people / sq mi	75	25	18	14	4	11	3

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

96% of Illinois's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are McLean, Logan and Macoupin. The weakest are Alexander, Gallatin and DuPage. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and hazards (flood, fire, storms and earthquakes).

What separates them

Hazard: McLean County scores 15 of 15, Alexander County 4. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Buildability: McLean County scores 10 of 10, Alexander County 3. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Water: McLean County scores 25 of 25, Carroll County 17. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.
Food: Logan County scores 15 of 15, Alexander County 11. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Legal: McLean County scores 19 of 20, Pulaski County 16. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.

Solar barely moves across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Solar is Illinois's weakest dimension, at 13 of 15 for the state as a whole. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $31k to $192k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Illinois row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Illinois

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Illinois? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsIllinois: 90 of 100, 11th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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