Best PlacesLaPorte County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in LaPorte County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
LaPorte County ranks 1,432nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on noise and taxes. It does better on big-city access, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in LaPorte 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 LaPorte County
The parts of LaPorte 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.
La Porte
More households have young kids, schools score higher, and streets are more walkable.
Westville
Prices have run up less and fewer homes sit empty.
Michigan City
Biking is better, though local pay stretches less far.
LaPorte County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 9%. Pick the area first, then the home.
LaPorte County's strengths and weaknesses
LaPorte County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Big-city access, fast internet, and cheap car insurance carry most of that.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Taxes and a weak job market also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where LaPorte County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of counties
Where LaPorte County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 23% of counties
- Cheap childcare$878 a month, better than only 31% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 31% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in LaPorte County
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median LaPorte County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,070, 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 LaPorte County's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 LaPorte County
LaPorte County'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 LaPorte County.
Who works in LaPorte County, and how
Work in LaPorte 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 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in LaPorte County
LaPorte County has more parkland per resident than 78% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 70% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of LaPorte County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is LaPorte County growing, and who is moving in?
LaPorte County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving LaPorte County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in LaPorte County, month by month
LaPorte County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 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 | 58° | 47° | 39° |
| July | 81° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 45° |
Flying in and out of LaPorte County
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 51 miles away.
The best schools in and around LaPorte County
Schools across LaPorte County average a C, better than 39% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Olive Township Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
- F Willard Crichfield ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Rolling Prairie Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Prairie Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Kesling Intermediate SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Harold C Urey Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- John Glenn High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- New Prairie High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Westville High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every LaPorte County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
LaPorte 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 LaPorte County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who LaPorte County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in LaPorte County
Is LaPorte County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, LaPorte County ranks 1,432nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, fast internet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on noise and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is LaPorte County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,924. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $75,070 median income, cost of living beats 69% of counties.
Is LaPorte County safe?
LaPorte County is safer than 32% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $368 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in LaPorte County?
July highs average about 81 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 22. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 36% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in LaPorte County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are La Porte, Westville, and Michigan City. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is LaPorte County good for families?
Schools beat 39% of counties, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $878 a month.
Is LaPorte County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 69% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 90% of counties. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare LaPorte County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to LaPorte County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in LaPorte 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.
LaPorte County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for LaPorte County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in LaPorte County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of LaPorte County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in LaPorte County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
LaPorte 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.