Best PlacesWhite County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in White 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.
White County ranks 1,149th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in White 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 White County
The parts of White 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.
Brookston
More households have young kids, local pay stretches further, and fewer homes sit empty.
Monticello
More residents vote and tree cover is thicker.
Monon
Scores across White County run from about the 20th to the 80th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
White County's strengths and weaknesses
Where White County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 89% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 77% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 75% of counties
Where White County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 30% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 32% of counties
- Cheap childcare$864 a month, better than only 32% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in White County
A household needs to earn about $46,000 a year to comfortably buy the median White County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,501, 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 White County's effective rate of 0.58%, 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 White County
White County 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 White County.
Who works in White County, and how
Work in White County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in White County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across White County.
Is White County growing, and who is moving in?
White County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lafayette, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving White County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in White County, month by month
White County sees roughly 79 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 27° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 49° | 40° |
| July | 82° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of White County
The nearest airport, South Bend International, is about 71 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Indianapolis International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around White County
Schools across White County average a C+, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Frontier ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
- Eastlawn Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Oaklawn Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Roosevelt Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- North White Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Tri-county Jr/sr High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Twin Lakes Senior High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Pioneer Jr-sr High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White 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 White County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who White County suits
Common questions about living in White County
Is White County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White County ranks 1,149th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, big-city access, and low disaster risk, and lowest on taxes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is White County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,683. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $68,501 median income, cost of living beats 59% of counties.
Is White County safe?
Yes, White County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in White County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 21. That works out to about 79 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in White County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Brookston, Monticello, and Monon. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare White County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White 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.
White County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White 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.