Best PlacesMetea, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Metea, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Metea ranks 20,412th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Metea
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.
Metea's strengths and weaknesses
Where Metea ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
- Short commute20.9 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 80% of towns
Where Metea ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 23% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Metea
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Metea home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,889, 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 Metea's effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Metea
Metea 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 Metea.
Who works in Metea, and how
Work in Metea centers on finance & insurance and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Metea
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Metea.
What the weather is like in Metea, month by month
Metea sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Metea
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 59 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around Metea
Schools across Metea average a C−, better than 27% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Caston Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Caston Jr-sr High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Metea school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Metea 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 Metea against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Metea
Is Metea a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Metea ranks 20,412th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, low disaster risk, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on taxes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Metea expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,000. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $83,889 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is Metea safe?
Metea is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $362 per resident a year.
Compare Metea with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Metea. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Metea 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.
Metea detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Metea: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Metea: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Metea: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Metea: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Metea 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.