Best PlacesHoward County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Howard 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.
Howard County ranks 1,196th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Howard 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.
Howard County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Howard County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of counties
- BikingBetter than 84% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of counties
- Short commute20.4 minutes each way, better than 76% of counties
Where Howard County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 18% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 26% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Howard County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Howard County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,869, 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 Howard County's effective rate of 0.72%, 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 Howard County
Howard County'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 Howard County.
Who works in Howard County, and how
Work in Howard County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Howard County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Howard County.
Is Howard County growing, and who is moving in?
Howard County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Indianapolis, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Howard County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Howard County, month by month
Howard County sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Howard County
Indianapolis International sits about 53 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 Howard County
Schools across Howard County average a C, better than 35% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Northwestern Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Wallace Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Western Intermediate SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northwestern Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Western Middle SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
- Eastern Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwestern Senior High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Eastern High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Western High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Howard County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Howard 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 Howard County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Howard County suits
Families
Schools land around the 35th percentile and crime safety beats 63%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 75% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Howard County
Is Howard County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Howard County ranks 1,196th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, cheap car insurance, and biking, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Howard County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,628. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $69,869 median income, cost of living beats 75% of counties.
Is Howard County safe?
Yes, Howard County is safer than 63% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $294 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Howard County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 20. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of counties.
Is Howard County good for families?
Schools beat 35% of counties, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $832 a month.
Compare Howard County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Howard County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Howard 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.
Howard County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Howard County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Howard County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Howard County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Howard County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Howard 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.