Best PlacesBlackford County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Blackford 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.
Blackford County ranks 2,276th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cheap car insurance.
The best neighborhoods in Blackford 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.
Blackford County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blackford County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 78% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 75% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 72% of counties
Where Blackford County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Blackford County
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blackford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,082, 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 Blackford County's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Blackford County
Blackford County runs older than the country, 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 Blackford County.
Who works in Blackford County, and how
Work in Blackford County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Blackford County
Blackford County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Blackford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Blackford County growing, and who is moving in?
Blackford County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Huntington County, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Blackford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Blackford County, month by month
Blackford County sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Blackford County
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 72 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blackford County
Schools across Blackford County average a C+, better than 49% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Southern Wells Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Blackford Intermediate SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Blackford Jr-sr High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blackford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blackford 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 Blackford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Blackford County
Is Blackford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blackford County ranks 2,276th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, walkability, and cell coverage, and lowest on taxes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blackford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $112,461. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $60,082 median income, cost of living beats 39% of counties.
Is Blackford County safe?
Blackford County is safer than 32% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
Compare Blackford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blackford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blackford 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.
Blackford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blackford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blackford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blackford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blackford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blackford 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.