Best PlacesSwitzerland County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Switzerland County, 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.
Switzerland County ranks 2,359th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on cheap car insurance.
The best neighborhoods in Switzerland 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.
Switzerland County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Switzerland County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 76% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 75% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 70% of counties
Where Switzerland County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 51 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of counties
- Short commute32.9 minutes each way, better than only 7% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Switzerland County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Switzerland County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,037, 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 Switzerland County's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 Switzerland County
Switzerland County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Switzerland County.
Who works in Switzerland County, and how
Work in Switzerland County centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Switzerland County
Switzerland County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 97% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Switzerland County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Switzerland County growing, and who is moving in?
Switzerland County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cincinnati, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Switzerland County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Switzerland County, month by month
Switzerland County sees roughly 51 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Switzerland County
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International sits about 25 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.4 million passengers in 2025, with 99 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Switzerland County
Schools across Switzerland County average a D+, better than 16% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Dillsboro Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- South Ripley Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Rykers' Ridge Elementary SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Ripley Junior High SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Ohio County Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Switzerland Co Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Rising Sun High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- South Ripley High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Switzerland Co Senior High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Switzerland County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Switzerland 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 Switzerland County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Switzerland County
Is Switzerland County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Switzerland County ranks 2,359th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low property taxes, and big-city access, and lowest on the weather and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Switzerland County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,999. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $70,037 median income, cost of living beats 40% of counties.
Is Switzerland County safe?
Yes, Switzerland County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $264 per resident a year.
Compare Switzerland County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Switzerland County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Switzerland 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.
Switzerland County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Switzerland County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Switzerland County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Switzerland County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Switzerland County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Switzerland 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.