Best PlacesManhattan, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Manhattan, 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.
Manhattan ranks 26,576th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Manhattan
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.
Manhattan's strengths and weaknesses
Where Manhattan ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of towns
Where Manhattan ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Short commute40.0 minutes each way, better than only 5% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Manhattan
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Manhattan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,681, 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 Manhattan's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Manhattan
Manhattan'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 Manhattan.
Who works in Manhattan, and how
Work in Manhattan centers on transportation & warehousing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Manhattan
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Manhattan.
What the weather is like in Manhattan, month by month
Manhattan sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, 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 | 41° | 31° | 21° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 65° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Manhattan
Indianapolis International sits about 33 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 Manhattan
Schools across Manhattan average a B−, better than 59% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Cloverdale Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cloverdale Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- South Putnam Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- South Putnam High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Cloverdale High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Manhattan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Manhattan 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 Manhattan against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Manhattan
Is Manhattan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Manhattan ranks 26,576th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, few empty homes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on civic engagement and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Manhattan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $292,681. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $81,681 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Manhattan safe?
Manhattan is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $355 per resident a year.
Compare Manhattan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Manhattan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Manhattan 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.
Manhattan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Manhattan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Manhattan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Manhattan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Manhattan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Manhattan 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.