Best PlacesAetna, Gary, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Aetna, Gary, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Aetna, Gary ranks 5,950th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. Health outcomes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cheap car insurance.
The best neighborhoods in Aetna, Gary
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.
Aetna, Gary's strengths and weaknesses
Where Aetna, Gary ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$873 a month, better than 79% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 76% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 71% of neighborhoods
Where Aetna, Gary ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Household income$40,629 median, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Aetna, Gary
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Aetna, Gary home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $40,629, 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 Aetna, Gary's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Aetna, Gary
Aetna, Gary runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Aetna, Gary.
Who works in Aetna, Gary, and how
Work in Aetna, Gary centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Aetna, Gary
Aetna, Gary has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Aetna, Gary and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Aetna, Gary, month by month
Aetna, Gary sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 60° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 83° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Aetna, Gary
Chicago Midway International sits about 28 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Aetna, Gary
Schools across Aetna, Gary average a D−, better than 7% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Henry S Evans Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- Virgil I Bailey Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
- Banneker Elementary At MarquetteF · 5% proficient
Top middle schools
- River Forest Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Gary Middle SchoolF · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- River Forest High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Thomas A Edison Jr-sr HsD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Aetna, Gary school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Aetna, Gary 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 Aetna, Gary against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Aetna, Gary
Is Aetna, Gary a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Aetna, Gary ranks 5,950th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, state infrastructure, and affordable childcare, and lowest on health outcomes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Aetna, Gary expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $100,557. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $40,629 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Aetna, Gary safe?
Aetna, Gary is safer than 2% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,081 per resident a year.
Compare Aetna, Gary with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Aetna, Gary. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Aetna, Gary 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.
Aetna, Gary detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Aetna, Gary: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Aetna, Gary: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Aetna, Gary: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Aetna, Gary: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Aetna, Gary 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.
- 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.