Best cities for sports in Illinois

BookrGo Best Sport Cities ranking: we rank the cities of Illinois by their 0-10 sports score, which combines density of centers per resident, variety of sports, listing quality and real activity. To keep the comparison fair, we measure every city's offering with the same sources of national coverage. An honest way to see where it's easiest (and hardest) to find somewhere to play.

525 scorable cities in Illinois.

#	City	Score /10	Centers
1	Highland Park	8.4	134
2	Deerfield	8.4	101
3	Glenview	8.3	181
4	Wilmette	8.3	74
5	Crystal Lake	8.1	155
6	Algonquin	8.1	88
7	Niles	8.1	78
8	Loves Park	8.1	73
9	Peoria Heights	8.1	20
10	Lake Forest	8.0	83
11	Northbrook	7.9	175
12	Edwardsville	7.9	106
13	Marion	7.9	58
14	Jacksonville	7.9	43
15	Channahon	7.9	34
16	Mundelein	7.8	109
17	Westmont	7.8	84
18	Lake Zurich	7.8	83
19	Pekin	7.7	83
20	Effingham	7.7	44
21	Naperville	7.6	453
22	Bloomington	7.6	222
23	Gurnee	7.6	103
24	Moline	7.6	95
25	Hoffman Estates	7.6	87
26	Grayslake	7.6	77
27	Addison	7.6	68
28	Morris	7.6	44
29	Woodstock	7.6	43
30	Lake Bluff	7.6	39
31	Olney	7.6	30
32	Countryside	7.6	28
33	Metropolis	7.6	14
34	Champaign	7.5	184
35	Palatine	7.5	160
36	Elmhurst	7.5	134
37	Carbondale	7.5	89
38	McHenry	7.5	78
39	Morton	7.5	44
40	Northfield	7.5	43
41	Geneseo	7.5	31
42	Herrin	7.5	27
43	Sparta	7.5	20
44	Springfield	7.4	310
45	Rockford	7.4	269
46	Arlington Heights	7.4	194
47	Plainfield	7.4	134
48	Buffalo Grove	7.4	106
49	Vernon Hills	7.4	102
50	Barrington	7.4	92
51	Glen Ellyn	7.4	84
52	Wauconda	7.4	29
53	Paris	7.4	25
54	Litchfield	7.4	20
55	Cherry Valley	7.4	18
56	Anna	7.4	15
57	Rochester	7.4	11
58	Elgin	7.3	150
59	Libertyville	7.3	109
60	Waukegan	7.3	106
61	Alton	7.3	73
62	Hinsdale	7.3	42
63	Glendale Heights	7.3	41
64	Lake in the Hills	7.3	38
65	Monmouth	7.3	27
66	Franklin Park	7.3	25
67	Rantoul	7.3	21
68	Evanston	7.2	195
69	Oswego	7.2	108
70	Quincy	7.2	104
71	Urbana	7.2	100
72	Park Ridge	7.2	95
73	Frankfort	7.2	82
74	Woodridge	7.2	68
75	Oak Brook	7.2	60
76	Romeoville	7.2	55
77	Homewood	7.2	49
78	Milan	7.2	35
79	Dixon	7.2	29
80	Burr Ridge	7.2	26
81	Marengo	7.2	18
82	Carlyle	7.2	16
83	Mackinaw	7.2	10
84	Peoria	7.1	243
85	Schaumburg	7.1	223
86	Elk Grove Village	7.1	67
87	Charleston	7.1	50
88	West Dundee	7.1	38
89	Antioch	7.1	33
90	Lincolnwood	7.1	31
91	Taylorville	7.1	29
92	Aurora	7.0	240
93	Orland Park	7.0	135
94	Decatur	7.0	118
95	Skokie	7.0	84
96	Galesburg	7.0	67
97	La Grange	7.0	64
98	Collinsville	7.0	60
99	Bloomingdale	7.0	56
100	Mattoon	7.0	48

How do we calculate the score?

Variety (25%) — how many different sports the city covers.
Quality (20%) — richness of each center's information.
Activity (20%) — real user interest over the last 30 days.
Scale (15%) — number of centers in the city.
Density (10%) — centers per resident (dampened).
Courts (10%) — total capacity: number of courts.

Each section is measured as a percentile against the other cities in the United States and combined into the final score, on a 0-10 scale. Variety and density are measured with a uniform instrument (only sources with homogeneous national coverage) so that no city is favored by having a more complete open catalog. We only score cities with population data and a presence in those sources.