Best PlacesLaGrange County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in LaGrange County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
LaGrange County ranks 1,577th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in LaGrange 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.
The best areas in LaGrange County
The parts of LaGrange County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Topeka
Fewer homes sit empty, more households have young kids, and local pay stretches further.
Shipshewana
Crime runs higher and health care is harder to reach.
Wolcottville
More adults hold degrees, though commutes are longer.
Lagrange
Homes cost less, though incomes run lower.
Scores across LaGrange County run from about the 17th to the 64th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
LaGrange County's strengths and weaknesses
Where LaGrange County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of counties
- Household income$90,646 median, better than 87% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 87% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of counties
Where LaGrange County ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,013 a month, better than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in LaGrange County
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median LaGrange County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,646, 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 LaGrange County's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 LaGrange County
LaGrange County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for LaGrange County.
Who works in LaGrange County, and how
Work in LaGrange County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in LaGrange County
LaGrange County has less parkland per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of LaGrange County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is LaGrange County growing, and who is moving in?
LaGrange County has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from St. Joseph County, MI.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving LaGrange County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in LaGrange County, month by month
LaGrange County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of LaGrange County
The nearest airport, Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around LaGrange County
Schools across LaGrange County average a B−, better than 60% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Meadowview Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Topeka Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Shipshewana-scott Elementary SchB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Westview Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Prairie Heights Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Prairie Heights Sr High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Westview Jr-sr High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Northridge High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every LaGrange County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
LaGrange 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 LaGrange County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who LaGrange County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 87% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 9% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in LaGrange County
Is LaGrange County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, LaGrange County ranks 1,577th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, cheap car insurance, and high incomes, and lowest on education levels and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is LaGrange County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $290,735. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $90,646 median income, cost of living beats 87% of counties.
Is LaGrange County safe?
LaGrange County is safer than 11% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $468 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in LaGrange County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 21. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in LaGrange County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Topeka, Shipshewana, and Wolcottville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare LaGrange County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to LaGrange County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in LaGrange 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.
LaGrange County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for LaGrange County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in LaGrange County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of LaGrange County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in LaGrange County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
LaGrange 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.