Best PlacesIndiana Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Indiana, 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.
Indiana ranks 35th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on cheap car insurance and low disaster risk. The weaker spots are the weather, noise, and taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Indiana
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.
The best areas in Indiana
The counties of Indiana, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Marion County & Hamilton County
Local pay stretches further, biking is better, and more adults hold degrees.
Allen County
Crime runs lower and more households have young kids.
Johnson County, Monroe County & Morgan County
Tree cover is thicker.
Tippecanoe County
Incomes run lower.
Clark County, Floyd County & Dearborn County
Scores close to Tippecanoe County, except that health outcomes score lower here.
Lake County & Porter County
Big-city amenities are closer, though commutes are longer.
Madison County, Delaware County & Grant County
Homes cost less.
St. Joseph County & Elkhart County
More homes sit empty.
Vanderburgh County, Vigo County & Warrick County
Disaster risk is higher and heat risk is higher.
Indiana shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Indiana's strengths and weaknesses
Indiana lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and fast internet carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, noise, and taxes hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Indiana ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of states
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of states
- Internet speedBetter than 76% of states
- State infrastructureBetter than 73% of states
- Healthcare accessBetter than 63% of states
Where Indiana ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of states
- QuietBetter than only 9% of states
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of states
- Health outlookBetter than only 17% of states
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Indiana
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Indiana home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,113, 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 Indiana's effective rate of 0.77%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Indiana
Indiana's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Indiana.
Who works in Indiana, and how
Work in Indiana 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 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Indiana
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Indiana.
What the weather is like in Indiana, month by month
Indiana sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 46° |
The best schools in and around Indiana
Schools across Indiana average a C+, better than 52% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Childs Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Northpoint Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Prairie Vista Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Top middle schools
- Creekside Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Merle Sidener Gifted AcademyA+ · 74% proficient
- Crestview Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Signature School IncA+ · 95% proficient
- Indiana Academy For Sci Math HmnA+ · 93% proficient
- Zionsville Community High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Indiana school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Indiana 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 Indiana against the other 49 states.
Who Indiana suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Indiana
Is Indiana a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Indiana ranks 35th of 50 states. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and fast internet, 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 Indiana expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $230,643. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $80,113 median income, cost of living beats 51% of states.
Is Indiana safe?
Indiana is safer than 33% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Indiana?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 21. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 7% of states.
What are the best areas in Indiana?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Marion County & Hamilton County, Allen County, and Johnson County, Monroe County & Morgan County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Indiana good for families?
Schools beat 52% of states, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $891 a month.
Is Indiana good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 51% of states, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 76% of states. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Indiana with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Indiana. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Indiana 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.
Indiana detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Indiana: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Indiana: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Indiana: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Indiana: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Indiana 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.
- 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.