Best PlacesScotland, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Scotland, 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.
Scotland ranks 15,770th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Scotland
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.
Scotland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Scotland ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
- Household income$117,276 median, better than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of towns
Where Scotland ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Short commute31.5 minutes each way, better than only 26% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Scotland
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scotland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $117,276, 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 Scotland's effective rate of 0.54%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Scotland
Scotland runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Scotland.
Who works in Scotland, and how
Work in Scotland centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Scotland
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Scotland.
What the weather is like in Scotland, month by month
Scotland sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 46° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 68° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Scotland
Indianapolis International sits about 64 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 Scotland
Schools across Scotland average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Daviess Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Bloomfield Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- White River Valley Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Eastern Greene Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Bloomfield High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- North Daviess Jr-sr High SchoolC · 31% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scotland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scotland 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 Scotland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Scotland
Is Scotland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scotland ranks 15,770th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and a strong job market, 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 Scotland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $193,800. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $117,276 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Scotland safe?
Scotland is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $255 per resident a year.
Compare Scotland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scotland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scotland 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.
Scotland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scotland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scotland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scotland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scotland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scotland 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.