Best PlacesYoung America, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Young America, 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.
Young America ranks 19,517th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Young America
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.
Young America's strengths and weaknesses
Where Young America ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 79% of towns
Where Young America ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Young America
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Young America home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,296, 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 Young America's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Young America
Young America 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 Young America.
Who works in Young America, and how
Work in Young America centers on retail trade and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Young America
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Young America.
What the weather is like in Young America, month by month
Young America sees roughly 73 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 Young America
Indianapolis International sits about 59 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 Young America
Schools across Young America average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Northwestern Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Lewis Cass Elementary SchoolC · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northwestern Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Lewis Cass Junior High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Carroll Junior High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwestern Senior High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Lewis Cass High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Young America school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Young America 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 Young America against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Young America
Is Young America a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Young America ranks 19,517th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, cheap car insurance, and heat safety, and lowest on taxes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Young America expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,659. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $75,296 median income, cost of living beats 72% of towns.
Is Young America safe?
Yes, Young America is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
Compare Young America with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Young America. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Young America 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.
Young America detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Young America: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Young America: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Young America: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Young America: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Young America 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.