Best PlacesEllis, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ellis, 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.
Ellis ranks 23,694th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ellis
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.
Ellis' strengths and weaknesses
Where Ellis ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of towns
- Short commute20.5 minutes each way, better than 86% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 75% of towns
Where Ellis ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ellis
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ellis home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,434, 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 Ellis' effective rate of 0.60%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ellis
Ellis's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Ellis.
Who works in Ellis, and how
Work in Ellis centers on construction and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ellis
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ellis.
What the weather is like in Ellis, month by month
Ellis sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Ellis
Indianapolis International sits about 67 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.2 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Ellis
Schools across Ellis average a C+, better than 44% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Linton-stockton ElementaryB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Linton-stockton Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Linton-stockton High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ellis school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ellis 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 Ellis against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ellis
Is Ellis a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ellis ranks 23,694th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, cheap car insurance, and short commutes, and lowest on taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ellis expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $191,805. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $72,434 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Ellis safe?
Yes, Ellis is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
Compare Ellis with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ellis. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ellis 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.
Ellis detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ellis: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ellis: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ellis: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ellis: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ellis 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.