Best PlacesSouth Milford, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Milford, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
South Milford ranks 17,660th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in South Milford
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.
South Milford's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Milford ranks high
- Household income$113,488 median, better than 91% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 83% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of towns
Where South Milford ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Milford
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Milford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $113,488, 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 Milford's effective rate of 0.52%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in South Milford
South Milford runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Milford.
Who works in South Milford, and how
Work in South Milford centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in South Milford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South Milford.
What the weather is like in South Milford, month by month
South Milford sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 45° |
Flying in and out of South Milford
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Milford
Schools across South Milford average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Heights Elementary SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Wayne Center Elem SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Prairie Heights Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- East Noble Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Prairie Heights Sr High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- East Noble High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Milford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Milford 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 Milford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Milford
Is South Milford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Milford ranks 17,660th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, what local pay buys, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on civic engagement and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Milford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,860. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $113,488 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is South Milford safe?
South Milford is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $400 per resident a year.
Compare South Milford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Milford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Milford 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 Milford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Milford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Milford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Milford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Milford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Milford 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.