Best PlacesWillow Branch, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Willow Branch, 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.
Willow Branch ranks 12,200th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Willow Branch
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.
Willow Branch's strengths and weaknesses
Where Willow Branch ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where Willow Branch ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 12% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,045 a month, better than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Willow Branch
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Willow Branch home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,998, 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 Willow Branch's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 Willow Branch
Willow Branch 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 Willow Branch.
Who works in Willow Branch, and how
Work in Willow Branch centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Willow Branch
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Willow Branch.
What the weather is like in Willow Branch, month by month
Willow Branch sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 29° | 24° |
| April | 62° | 51° | 43° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Willow Branch
Indianapolis International sits about 34 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 Willow Branch
Schools across Willow Branch average a B, better than 69% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eden Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Eastern Hancock Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Greenfield Central Junior High SchB− · 40% proficient
- Eastern Hancock Middle SchoolB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Eastern Hancock High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Greenfield-central High SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Willow Branch school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Willow Branch 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 Willow Branch against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Willow Branch
Is Willow Branch a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Willow Branch ranks 12,200th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, cheap car insurance, and few empty homes, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Willow Branch expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $222,900. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $83,998 median income, cost of living beats 80% of towns.
Is Willow Branch safe?
Willow Branch is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $267 per resident a year.
Compare Willow Branch with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Willow Branch. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Willow Branch 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.
Willow Branch detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Willow Branch: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Willow Branch: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Willow Branch: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Willow Branch: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Willow Branch 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.