A recent report from Trulia ranks neighborhoods offering the best value for first-time homebuyers in America’s biggest housing markets, including Chicago. The ranking took into account not only home prices, but commute times, school quality, crime rates, and local amenities.

In Chicago, the top 10 neighborhoods ranked all sit outside city limits. The median home value in the city is $220,000 and the median list price is $295,000, which is relatively affordable compared with other major cities. 

Palatine’s Fairgrounds Park and Palatine Manor ranked in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots with a median home value of $238,018 and $247,161, respectively. The neighborhoods both ranked lowest for affordability. Fairgrounds Park ranked highest for safety and Palatine Manor ranked highest for its easy commute.

Cameno Real in Orland Park ranked in the third spot with a median home value of $229,943. The neighborhood stood out for having high restaurant, commute, and safety scores, but it ranked lowest for schools.

Two neighborhoods in Downers Grove ranked on the top 10 list: Liberty Park and First Liberty Park. The median home prices in these communities are $226,799 and $225,659, respectively.

Of all the communities listed in Chicago’s top 10, there were only a few perfect 10 scores in the measured categories. In addition to Fairgrounds Park, Walkup at The Park in Crystal Lake, Arlington Heights Garden in Arlington Heights, and Talcott Glen in Lakewood all had perfect rankings for their crime score.

Homebuyers looking for an affordable place to live with plenty of restaurants should search Kipling Estates in Shorewood, which was the only community with a perfect score in the category.

If an easy commute is important, Walkup at The Park in Crystal Lake, Shermer Place in Northbrook, and Liberty Park all received a 10 for their commute.

Oakside in Oak Lawn was the only commute that received a score of 10 for schools.

Trulia used data from Zillow to determine neighborhoods’ median home price-per-square-foot, data from Yelp for restaurant count within one-half-mile, Census data to determine the percentage of residents who have a 30-minute commute or longer, school information from GreatSchools and Maponics, and SpotCrime and crime reports.