Best PlacesFiat, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fiat, 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.
Fiat ranks 44,236th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Fiat
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.
Fiat's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fiat ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 73% of towns
Where Fiat ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$37,173 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fiat
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fiat home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $37,173, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Fiat's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fiat
Fiat'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 Fiat.
Who works in Fiat, and how
Work in Fiat centers on construction and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Fiat
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fiat.
What the weather is like in Fiat, month by month
Fiat sees roughly 59 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 Fiat
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 83 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fiat
Schools across Fiat average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bloomfield Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Blackford Jr-sr High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Jay County Jr/sr High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fiat school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fiat 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 Fiat against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fiat
Is Fiat a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fiat ranks 44,236th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, a strong job market, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fiat expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $366,079. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $37,173 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Fiat safe?
Fiat is safer than 37% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
Compare Fiat with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fiat. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fiat 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.
Fiat detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fiat: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fiat: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fiat: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fiat: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fiat 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.