Best PlacesAdams County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Adams County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Adams County ranks 1,404th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Adams County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Adams County
The parts of Adams County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Berne
Streets are more walkable, more residents vote, and fewer homes sit empty.
Decatur
It is noisier and fewer households have young kids.
Geneva
Health outcomes score lower and health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Adams County run from about the 8th to the 74th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Adams County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Adams County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 75% of counties
Where Adams County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 21% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Adams County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Adams County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,206, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Adams County's effective rate of 0.70%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Adams County
Adams County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Adams County.
Who works in Adams County, and how
Work in Adams County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Adams County
Adams County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Adams County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Adams County growing, and who is moving in?
Adams County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fort Wayne, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Adams County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Adams County, month by month
Adams County sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Adams County
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 101 miles away.
The best schools in and around Adams County
Schools across Adams County average a B−, better than 59% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Adams Central Elementary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- South Adams Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Bellmont ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Adams Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Adams Central Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Bellmont Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Adams Central High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- South Adams High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Bellmont Senior High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Adams County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Adams County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Adams County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Adams County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Adams County
Is Adams County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Adams County ranks 1,404th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, few empty homes, and low crime, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Adams County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $204,806. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $70,206 median income, cost of living beats 52% of counties.
Is Adams County safe?
Yes, Adams County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $229 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Adams County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 20. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Adams County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Berne, Decatur, and Geneva. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Adams County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Adams County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Adams County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Adams County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Adams County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Adams County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Adams County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Adams County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Adams County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.