Best PlacesFort Branch, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fort Branch, 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.
Fort Branch ranks 11,389th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fort Branch
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.
Fort Branch's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fort Branch ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute18.3 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
- BikingBetter than 84% of towns
Where Fort Branch ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 52 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 21% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 23% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fort Branch
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fort Branch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,421, 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 Fort Branch's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fort Branch
Fort Branch runs younger 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 Fort Branch.
Who works in Fort Branch, and how
Work in Fort Branch centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Fort Branch
Fort Branch has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Fort Branch and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Fort Branch, month by month
Fort Branch sees roughly 52 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Fort Branch
The nearest airport, Evansville Regional, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 123 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fort Branch
Schools across Fort Branch average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Barton Township ElementaryB · 50% proficient
- Fort Branch Community SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Owensville Community SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Princeton Community MiddleC · 33% proficient
- Waldo J Wood Memorial JhsC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Gibson Southern High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Princeton Community High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Waldo J Wood Memorial HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fort Branch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fort Branch 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 Fort Branch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fort Branch
Is Fort Branch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fort Branch ranks 11,389th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fort Branch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $226,543. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $82,421 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Fort Branch safe?
Fort Branch is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $259 per resident a year.
Compare Fort Branch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fort Branch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fort Branch 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.
Fort Branch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fort Branch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fort Branch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fort Branch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fort Branch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fort Branch 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.