Best PlacesPlainfield, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Plainfield, 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.
Plainfield ranks 531st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Plainfield
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.
Plainfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Plainfield ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 85% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 81% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than 81% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of cities
Where Plainfield ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 10% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 25% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 27% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Plainfield
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Plainfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,582, 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 Plainfield's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Plainfield
Plainfield'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 Plainfield.
Who works in Plainfield, and how
Work in Plainfield centers on transportation & warehousing 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 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Plainfield
Plainfield has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Plainfield and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Plainfield, month by month
Plainfield sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Plainfield
Indianapolis International sits about 5 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 Plainfield
Schools across Plainfield average an A−, better than 85% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Central Elementary SchoolA− · 61% proficient
- Van Buren Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Clarks Creek ElementaryA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Plainfield Community Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Avon Middle School SouthB+ · 51% proficient
- Cascade Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Cascade Senior High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Plainfield High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Avon High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Plainfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Plainfield 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 Plainfield against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Plainfield suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of cities and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Plainfield
Is Plainfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Plainfield ranks 531st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and a strong job market, and lowest on the weather and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Plainfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $284,486. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $99,582 median income, cost of living beats 77% of cities.
Is Plainfield safe?
Yes, Plainfield is safer than 80% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Plainfield?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 21. That works out to about 55 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of cities.
Is Plainfield good for families?
Schools beat 85% of cities, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $1,131 a month.
Compare Plainfield with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Plainfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Plainfield 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.
Plainfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Plainfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Plainfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Plainfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Plainfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Plainfield 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.