Best PlacesIsland Park, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Island Park, 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.
Island Park ranks 15,103rd 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 Island Park
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.
Island Park's strengths and weaknesses
Where Island Park ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 88% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 82% of towns
Where Island Park ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 9% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 26% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 27% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Island Park
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Island Park home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,591, 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 Island Park's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Island Park
Island Park runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Island Park.
Who works in Island Park, and how
Work in Island Park centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Island Park
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Island Park.
What the weather is like in Island Park, month by month
Island Park sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Island Park
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Island Park
Schools across Island Park average a C, better than 38% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hamilton Community Elementary SchC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Hamilton Community High SchoolD · 19% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Island Park school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Island Park 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 Island Park against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Island Park
Is Island Park a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Island Park ranks 15,103rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, cheap car insurance, and a strong job market, and lowest on taxes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Island Park expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,983. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $78,591 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Island Park safe?
Yes, Island Park is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $167 per resident a year.
Compare Island Park with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Island Park. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Island Park 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.
Island Park detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Island Park: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Island Park: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Island Park: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Island Park: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Island Park 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.