Best PlacesMonroe County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Monroe County, 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.
Monroe County ranks 1,131st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on noise and the weather. It does better on an educated workforce, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Monroe County
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.
Monroe County's strengths and weaknesses
Monroe County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. An educated workforce is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Biking and transit follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Noise, the weather, and taxes hold the score down. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Monroe County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- BikingBetter than 96% of counties
- TransitBetter than 95% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of counties
Where Monroe County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 6% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 7% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Monroe County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monroe County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $70,894; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Monroe County's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Monroe County
Monroe County runs younger 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 Monroe County.
Who works in Monroe County, and how
Work in Monroe County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in Monroe County
Monroe County has more late-night spots per resident than 93% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Monroe County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Monroe County growing, and who is moving in?
Monroe County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Indianapolis, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Monroe County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Monroe County, month by month
Monroe County sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 69° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 72° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Monroe County
Indianapolis International sits about 40 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 Monroe County
Schools across Monroe County average a C+, better than 57% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Childs Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- University Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Unionville Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jackson Creek Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Tri-north Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Edgewood Junior High SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- The Acad Of Sci & EntrepreneurshipA · 72% proficient
- Bloomington High School NorthA− · 65% proficient
- Bloomington High School SouthA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monroe County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monroe County 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 Monroe County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Monroe County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Monroe County
Is Monroe County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monroe County ranks 1,131st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, biking, and transit, and lowest on noise and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monroe County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $298,089. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $70,894 median income, cost of living beats 43% of counties.
Is Monroe County safe?
Monroe County is safer than 15% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $474 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Monroe County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 23. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 7% of counties.
Is Monroe County good for families?
Schools beat 57% of counties, crime safety beats 15%, and childcare runs $815 a month.
Is Monroe County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 43% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 92% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Monroe County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monroe County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monroe County 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.
Monroe County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monroe County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monroe County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monroe County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monroe County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monroe County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.