Best PlacesSalem Heights, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Salem Heights, 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.
Salem Heights ranks 9,417th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Salem Heights
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.
Salem Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Salem Heights ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Salem Heights ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 23% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Salem Heights
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Salem Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,742, 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 Salem Heights' effective rate of 0.58%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Salem Heights
Salem Heights runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Salem Heights.
Who works in Salem Heights, and how
Work in Salem Heights centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Salem Heights
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Salem Heights.
What the weather is like in Salem Heights, month by month
Salem Heights sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Salem Heights
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 60 miles away.
The best schools in and around Salem Heights
Schools across Salem Heights average a B−, better than 56% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kingsbury Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Indian Trail Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kesling Intermediate SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Salem Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Salem Heights 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 Salem Heights against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Salem Heights
Is Salem Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Salem Heights ranks 9,417th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, big-city access, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on tree cover and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Salem Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $208,920. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $87,742 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Salem Heights safe?
Yes, Salem Heights is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $173 per resident a year.
Compare Salem Heights with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Salem Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Salem Heights 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.
Salem Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Salem Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Salem Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Salem Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Salem Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Salem Heights 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.