Best PlacesVigo County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Vigo 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.
Vigo County ranks 2,292nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the weather and noise. It does better on biking, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Vigo 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 Vigo County
The parts of Vigo 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.
North Terre Haute
Crime runs lower, fewer homes sit empty, and prices have run up less.
West Terre Haute
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Terre Haute
More adults hold degrees, though fewer households have young kids.
Scores across Vigo County run from about the 2nd to the 83rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Vigo County's strengths and weaknesses
Vigo County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Biking, cheap car insurance, and fast internet carry most of that.
The one real hole is the weather, near the bottom of the country. Noise and taxes also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Vigo County ranks high
- BikingBetter than 89% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of counties
- TransitBetter than 84% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 79% of counties
Where Vigo County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 55 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Vigo County
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vigo County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,402, 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 Vigo County's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Vigo County
Vigo County runs younger 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 Vigo County.
Who works in Vigo County, and how
Work in Vigo County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Vigo County
Vigo County has more late-night spots per resident than 87% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Vigo County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Vigo County growing, and who is moving in?
Vigo County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Indianapolis, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Vigo County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Vigo County, month by month
Vigo County sees roughly 55 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 21° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 65° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Vigo County
Indianapolis International sits about 61 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.2 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Vigo County
Schools across Vigo County average a C+, better than 46% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lost Creek Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Riley Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Fayette Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Honey Creek Middle SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- West Vigo Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Terre Haute South Vigo High SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Terre Haute North Vigo High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- West Vigo High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vigo County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vigo 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 Vigo County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Vigo County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Vigo County
Is Vigo County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vigo County ranks 2,292nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on biking, cheap car insurance, and fast internet, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vigo County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,305. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $58,402 median income, cost of living beats 17% of counties.
Is Vigo County safe?
Vigo County is safer than 16% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $485 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Vigo County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 21. That works out to about 55 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Vigo County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are North Terre Haute, West Terre Haute, and Terre Haute. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Vigo County good for families?
Schools beat 46% of counties, crime safety beats 16%, and childcare runs $741 a month.
Is Vigo County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 17% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 88% of counties. About 7% of workers already work from home.
Compare Vigo County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vigo County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vigo 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.
Vigo County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vigo County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vigo County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vigo County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vigo County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vigo 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.