Best PlacesSims, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sims, 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.
Sims ranks 8,280th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sims
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.
Sims' strengths and weaknesses
Where Sims ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of towns
Where Sims ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sims
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sims home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,844, 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 Sims' 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sims
Sims runs older 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 Sims.
Who works in Sims, and how
Work in Sims centers on manufacturing 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 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Sims
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sims.
What the weather is like in Sims, month by month
Sims sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Sims
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sims
Schools across Sims average a B, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sweetser Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Eastern Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Swayzee Elementary SchoolB− · 39% proficient
- Eastern Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Eastern High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Oak Hill High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sims school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sims 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 Sims against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sims
Is Sims a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sims ranks 8,280th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, cheap car insurance, and health care access, and lowest on tree cover and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sims expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,960. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $80,844 median income, cost of living beats 85% of towns.
Is Sims safe?
Yes, Sims is safer than 85% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $180 per resident a year.
Compare Sims with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sims. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sims 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.
Sims detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sims: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sims: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sims: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sims: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sims 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.