Best PlacesMichiana, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Michiana, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Michiana ranks 5,745th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Michiana
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.
Michiana's strengths and weaknesses
Where Michiana ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of towns
Where Michiana ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Michiana
A household needs to earn about $199,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Michiana home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $107,083, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Michiana's effective rate of 0.87%, 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 Michiana
Michiana 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 Michiana.
Who works in Michiana, and how
Work in Michiana centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 30%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Michiana
Michiana has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Michiana and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Michiana, month by month
Michiana sees roughly 80 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 Michiana
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around Michiana
Schools across Michiana average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- New Buffalo Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Buffalo Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- New Buffalo Senior High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Michiana school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Michiana 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 Michiana against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Michiana
Is Michiana a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Michiana ranks 5,745th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on an educated workforce, low crime, and health care access, and lowest on an overheated housing market and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Michiana expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $752,900. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $107,083 median income, cost of living beats 93% of towns.
Is Michiana safe?
Yes, Michiana is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $131 per resident a year.
Compare Michiana with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Michiana. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Michiana 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.
Michiana detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Michiana: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Michiana: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Michiana: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Michiana: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Michiana 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.