Best PlacesSouth Bend, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the South Bend metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Cntrlaltdel33t, CC BY-SA 4.0, via commons
South Bend ranks 315th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on crime and noise. It does better on low disaster risk, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the South Bend metro
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 South Bend
The towns and districts of the South Bend metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Osceola
Fewer homes sit empty, crime runs lower, and more households have young kids.
Granger, Dowagiac & Edwardsburg
More residents vote and it is quieter.
Niles
Local pay stretches further and incomes run higher.
Mishawaka
Fewer adults hold degrees and streets are more car-dependent.
North Liberty, Walkerton & Lakeville
Tree cover is thicker, though biking is worse.
Notre Dame
Health outcomes score higher, though prices have run up more.
Downtown South Bend
Homes cost less, though health care is harder to reach.
South Bend shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
South Bend's strengths and weaknesses
South Bend ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. Low disaster risk, big-city access, and fast internet carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: crime, noise, and the weather all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where South Bend ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of metro areas
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of metro areas
- Internet speedBetter than 72% of metro areas
- Heat safetyBetter than 71% of metro areas
- Short commute21.7 minutes each way, better than 69% of metro areas
Where South Bend ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than only 14% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of metro areas
- Local economyBetter than only 20% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in South Bend
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Bend home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,729, 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 South Bend's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 South Bend
South Bend'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 South Bend.
Who works in South Bend, and how
Work in South Bend centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in South Bend
South Bend has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of metro areas and more parkland per resident than 78% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of South Bend and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is South Bend growing, and who is moving in?
South Bend has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Elkhart, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving South Bend go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in South Bend, month by month
South Bend sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of South Bend
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Bend
Schools across South Bend average a C+, better than 34% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Olive Township Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Madison Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Meadow's Edge Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Prairie Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Lasalle AcademyB− · 40% proficient
- Virgil I Grissom Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
Top high schools
- Penn High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- New Prairie High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Career Academy High SchoolB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Bend school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Bend 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 South Bend against the other 386 metro areas.
Who South Bend suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in South Bend
Is South Bend a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Bend ranks 315th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on low disaster risk, big-city access, and fast internet, and lowest on crime and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Bend expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $203,129. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $74,729 median income, cost of living beats 50% of metro areas.
Is South Bend safe?
South Bend is safer than 1% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $584 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in South Bend?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 19. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in South Bend?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Osceola, Granger, Dowagiac & Edwardsburg, and Niles. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is South Bend good for families?
Schools beat 34% of metro areas, crime safety beats 1%, and childcare runs $798 a month.
Is South Bend good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 50% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 72% of metro areas. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare South Bend with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Bend. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Bend 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.
South Bend detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Bend: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Bend: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Bend: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Bend: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Bend 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.