Best PlacesLawrence County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lawrence 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.
Lawrence County ranks 1,140th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County
The parts of Lawrence 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.
Springville
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and prices have run up less.
Bedford
Streets are more walkable, though fewer households have young kids.
Mitchell
Fewer adults hold degrees and tree cover is thinner.
Scores across Lawrence County run from about the 10th to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Lawrence County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lawrence County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 127 pleasant days a year, better than 80% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 78% of counties
Where Lawrence County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 12% of counties
- Short commute27.2 minutes each way, better than only 29% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 32% of counties
- Cheap childcare$853 a month, better than only 33% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lawrence County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lawrence County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,604, 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 Lawrence County's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Lawrence County
Lawrence County runs older than the country, 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 Lawrence County.
Who works in Lawrence County, and how
Work in Lawrence County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lawrence County
Lawrence County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 73% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lawrence County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lawrence County growing, and who is moving in?
Lawrence County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Bloomington, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lawrence County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lawrence County, month by month
Lawrence County sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 46° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Lawrence County
Indianapolis International sits about 61 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 Lawrence County
Schools across Lawrence County average a C+, better than 52% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lakeview Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Shawswick Elementary SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Parkview Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bedford Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Mitchell Jr High SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Bedford-north Lawrence High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Mitchell High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lawrence County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lawrence 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 Lawrence County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lawrence County suits
Families
Schools land around the 52nd percentile and crime safety beats 60%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 80% of counties and health care access beats 78%.
Common questions about living in Lawrence County
Is Lawrence County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lawrence County ranks 1,140th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, cheap car insurance, and few empty homes, and lowest on taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lawrence County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $184,850. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $69,604 median income, cost of living beats 56% of counties.
Is Lawrence County safe?
Yes, Lawrence County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $277 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lawrence County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 25. That works out to about 127 pleasant days a year, more than 80% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lawrence County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Springville, Bedford, and Mitchell. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Lawrence County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lawrence County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lawrence 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.
Lawrence County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lawrence County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lawrence County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lawrence County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lawrence County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lawrence 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.