Best PlacesTri-Lakes, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Tri-Lakes, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Tri-Lakes ranks 9,049th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Tri-Lakes
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.
Tri-Lakes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Tri-Lakes ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 89% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of towns
- Household income$102,851 median, better than 86% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Tri-Lakes ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 30% of towns
- Cheap childcare$941 a month, better than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Tri-Lakes
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Tri-Lakes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $102,851, 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 Tri-Lakes' effective rate of 0.71%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Tri-Lakes
Tri-Lakes runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Tri-Lakes.
Who works in Tri-Lakes, and how
Work in Tri-Lakes centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Tri-Lakes
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Tri-Lakes.
What the weather is like in Tri-Lakes, month by month
Tri-Lakes sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Tri-Lakes
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around Tri-Lakes
Schools across Tri-Lakes average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Churubusco Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Northern Heights Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Indian Springs Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Columbia City High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Tri-Lakes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Tri-Lakes 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 Tri-Lakes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Tri-Lakes
Is Tri-Lakes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Tri-Lakes ranks 9,049th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, what local pay buys, and health care access, and lowest on internet speeds and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Tri-Lakes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $329,657. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $102,851 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Tri-Lakes safe?
Yes, Tri-Lakes is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $201 per resident a year.
Compare Tri-Lakes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Tri-Lakes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Tri-Lakes 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.
Tri-Lakes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Tri-Lakes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Tri-Lakes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Tri-Lakes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Tri-Lakes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Tri-Lakes 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.