Best PlacesMonon, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Monon, 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.
Monon ranks 35,021st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Monon
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.
Monon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monon ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of towns
Where Monon ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 1% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Household income$48,960 median, better than only 11% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Monon
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,960, 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 Monon's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Monon
Monon runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Monon.
Who works in Monon, and how
Work in Monon centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Monon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Monon.
What the weather is like in Monon, month by month
Monon sees roughly 84 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° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Monon
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 65 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monon
Schools across Monon average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Central Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- North White Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Central Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- North White Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Tri-county Jr/sr High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- North White High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- West Central Senior High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monon 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 Monon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Monon
Is Monon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monon ranks 35,021st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, heat safety, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on education levels and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $110,684. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $48,960 median income, cost of living beats 11% of towns.
Is Monon safe?
Monon is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $337 per resident a year.
Compare Monon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monon 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.
Monon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monon 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.