Best PlacesSt. Joseph County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in St. Joseph County, 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.
St. Joseph County ranks 1,301st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on noise and crime. It does better on low disaster risk, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in St. Joseph County
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 St. Joseph County
The parts of St. Joseph County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Granger
Crime runs lower, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Mishawaka
More households have young kids and more residents vote.
Osceola
Biking is better, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Notre Dame
More homes sit empty and prices have run up more.
North Liberty, Walkerton & Lakeville
Tree cover is thicker, though commutes are longer.
New Carlisle
Schools score lower.
South Bend
Homes cost less.
St. Joseph County 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.
St. Joseph County's strengths and weaknesses
St. Joseph County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low disaster risk, big-city access, and biking carry most of that.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Crime and the weather also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where St. Joseph County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of counties
- BikingBetter than 90% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 86% of counties
Where St. Joseph County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 10% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 12% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in St. Joseph County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median St. Joseph County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,907, 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 St. Joseph County's effective rate of 0.88%, 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 St. Joseph County
St. Joseph County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for St. Joseph County.
Who works in St. Joseph County, and how
Work in St. Joseph County 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 81%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in St. Joseph County
St. Joseph County has more parkland per resident than 80% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 83% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of St. Joseph County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is St. Joseph County growing, and who is moving in?
St. Joseph County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Elkhart, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving St. Joseph County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in St. Joseph County, month by month
St. Joseph County 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 St. Joseph County
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Chicago Midway International, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around St. Joseph County
Schools across St. Joseph County average a C+, better than 49% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Northpoint Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Prairie Vista Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Mary Frank Harris Elementary SchA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Discovery Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Schmucker Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- New Prairie Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Penn High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- John Glenn High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- New Prairie High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every St. Joseph County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
St. Joseph County 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 St. Joseph County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who St. Joseph County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in St. Joseph County
Is St. Joseph County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, St. Joseph County ranks 1,301st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, big-city access, and biking, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is St. Joseph County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,835. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $74,907 median income, cost of living beats 73% of counties.
Is St. Joseph County safe?
St. Joseph County is safer than 10% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $643 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in St. Joseph County?
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 12% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in St. Joseph County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Granger, Mishawaka, and Osceola. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is St. Joseph County good for families?
Schools beat 49% of counties, crime safety beats 10%, and childcare runs $831 a month.
Is St. Joseph County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 73% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 87% of counties. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare St. Joseph County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to St. Joseph County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in St. Joseph County 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.
St. Joseph County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for St. Joseph County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in St. Joseph County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of St. Joseph County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in St. Joseph County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
St. Joseph County 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.