Best PlacesVelpen, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Velpen, 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.
Velpen ranks 15,682nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Velpen
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.
Velpen's strengths and weaknesses
Where Velpen ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 84% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of towns
- Household income$85,358 median, better than 71% of towns
Where Velpen ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 48 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 22% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Velpen
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Velpen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,358, 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 Velpen's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Velpen
Velpen runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Velpen.
Who works in Velpen, and how
Work in Velpen centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Velpen
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Velpen.
What the weather is like in Velpen, month by month
Velpen sees roughly 48 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Velpen
The nearest airport, Evansville Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Velpen
Schools across Velpen average a B−, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ireland Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Holland Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Jasper Elementary SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jasper Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Southridge Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Pike Central Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Jasper High SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Southridge High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Pike Central High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Velpen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Velpen 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 Velpen against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Velpen
Is Velpen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Velpen ranks 15,682nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, cheap car insurance, and what local pay buys, and lowest on the weather and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Velpen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,674. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $85,358 median income, cost of living beats 84% of towns.
Is Velpen safe?
Yes, Velpen is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $161 per resident a year.
Compare Velpen with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Velpen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Velpen 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.
Velpen detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Velpen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Velpen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Velpen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Velpen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Velpen 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.