Best PlacesNoble County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Noble County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Noble County ranks 1,313th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Noble 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.
The best areas in Noble County
The parts of Noble County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Avilla
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and crime runs lower.
Kendallville
Prices have run up less, though it is noisier.
Albion
More households have young kids and more residents vote.
Ligonier
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Rome City
Scores close to Ligonier, except that health care is easier to reach here.
Scores across Noble County run from about the 14th to the 83rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Noble County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Noble County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 78% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 76% of counties
Where Noble County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 12% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 17% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 19% of counties
- Cheap childcare$910 a month, better than only 27% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Noble County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Noble County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,125, 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 Noble County's effective rate of 0.65%, 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 Noble County
Noble County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Noble County.
Who works in Noble County, and how
Work in Noble County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Noble County
Noble County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 92% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Noble County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Noble County growing, and who is moving in?
Noble County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fort Wayne, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Noble County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Noble County, month by month
Noble County sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 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 | 59° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Noble County
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around Noble County
Schools across Noble County average a C+, better than 45% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Churubusco Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Avilla Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Central Noble Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Carroll Middle SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
- Indian Springs Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- East Noble Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- West Noble High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Columbia City High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- East Noble High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Noble County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Noble 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 Noble County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Noble County suits
Families
Schools land around the 45th percentile and crime safety beats 72%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 5% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Noble County
Is Noble County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Noble County ranks 1,313th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, cheap car insurance, and heat safety, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Noble County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,461. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $75,125 median income, cost of living beats 66% of counties.
Is Noble County safe?
Yes, Noble County is safer than 72% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Noble County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 22. That works out to about 83 pleasant days a year, more than 43% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Noble County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Avilla, Kendallville, and Albion. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Noble County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Noble County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Noble 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.
Noble County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Noble County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Noble County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Noble County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Noble County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Noble 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.