Best PlacesMidtown, Gary, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Midtown, Gary, 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.
Midtown, Gary ranks 5,964th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Midtown, Gary
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.
Midtown, Gary's strengths and weaknesses
Where Midtown, Gary ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$873 a month, better than 79% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 78% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 74% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 72% of neighborhoods
Where Midtown, Gary ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Household income$29,554 median, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Midtown, Gary
A household needs to earn about $18,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Midtown, Gary home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $29,554, 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 Midtown, Gary's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Midtown, Gary
Midtown, Gary 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 Midtown, Gary.
Who works in Midtown, Gary, and how
Work in Midtown, Gary centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Midtown, Gary
Midtown, Gary has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Midtown, Gary and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Midtown, Gary, month by month
Midtown, Gary sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 60° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 83° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Midtown, Gary
Chicago Midway International sits about 25 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 9.4 million passengers in 2025, with 113 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Midtown, Gary
Schools across Midtown, Gary average a D−, better than 6% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Henry S Evans Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- Daniel Hale Williams Elem SchF · 6% proficient
- Beveridge Elementary SchoolF · 3% proficient
Top middle schools
- River Forest Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Lake Ridge New Tech Middle SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- River Forest High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- West Side Leadership AcademyD− · 16% proficient
- Calumet New Tech High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Midtown, Gary school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Midtown, Gary 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 Midtown, Gary against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Midtown, Gary
Is Midtown, Gary a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Midtown, Gary ranks 5,964th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state infrastructure, affordable childcare, and low disaster risk, and lowest on crime and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Midtown, Gary expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $67,619. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $29,554 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Midtown, Gary safe?
Midtown, Gary is safer than 0% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,454 per resident a year.
Compare Midtown, Gary with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Midtown, Gary. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Midtown, Gary 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.
Midtown, Gary detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Midtown, Gary: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Midtown, Gary: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Midtown, Gary: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Midtown, Gary: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Midtown, Gary 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.