Channel connecting the Barbee Lakes, 1914
Barbee’s story
128 years in pictures
The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 1914.
- 1898Barbee is settled
BarbeeIN
A town of 1,464, settled in 1898.
Population
1,464
Census survey, 2020–24
Median home value
$245K
Census ACS
Household income
$95K
median
Median age
39.2
years
Jobs based here
52
A commuter town
Is Barbee a good place to live?
The best of Barbee’s subject grades is an A− for cost of living; the weakest is a D− for walkability. 3.8% of residents live below the poverty line in Barbee, below both Indiana’s towns (10%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). On the outdoors, just 3 of Indiana’s 1,098 towns do worse. Barbee has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Barbee stand out
Where Barbee beats most towns.
Small town
1,464 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Nearby towns
How Barbee grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Barbee is from typical.
WalkabilityEPA walkability 4.2 of 20; 0% of households have no car; 0% of workers walk, bike or ride transitD−Open →Cost of livingTypical home $245K, 2.6 years of the county’s $95K median household incomeA−Open →Hazard riskFEMA risk higher than 27% of U.S. communities; inland flooding tops the listB+Open →Jobs & income52 jobs based hereB+Open →SchoolsBehind 61% of Indiana districts on tests and graduationC+Open →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Getting set up
Moving to Barbee: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Barbee, and how to reach them.
PowerNIPSCO22.1¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterLake Estates Manufactured Home Community water system3 health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet7 providers100% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Register to voteOnlineIn Indiana you can register online until 29 days before Election Day, in person until 29 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 29 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereKosciusko County Circuit Court ClerkKosciusko County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Sep 2025
ZIP codes46582, 4653846582 81% · 46538 19%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Barbee.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade B+
With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Barbee’s workers commute out
Most working residents leave Barbee for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Warsaw (21%), Tippecanoe Township (8%) and Goshen (5%). Half commute less than 11 miles.
2%work in town
| Barbee | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.6% | 11% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
In Barbee2%
Warsaw21%
Tippecanoe Township8%
Goshen5%
Elkhart5%
11 mi
median commute distance
52
jobs based in Barbee
A commuter town
jobs vs. working residents
D−
Walkability grade: more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Natural hazardsHazard risk grade B+
Barbee faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 73% of U.S. communities.
27risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingTornadoesCold waves
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Climate
Barbee has snowy winters and pleasant summers
Barbee has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 47 inches of snow falls in a winter.
47″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter20–35°
Spring38–60°
Summer60–82°
Fall42–62°
Oct 24
typical first frost
Apr 24
typical last frost
+1.3°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Barbee
15pages on Barbee
The big questions
Out and about
Day to day
After high school
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Barbee
About 2 of every 100 Barbee residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
A commuter town
98% of working residents leave Barbee for work
Where Barbee’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
52jobs based in Barbee
2%of working residents work in town
11 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
About Barbee
Unincorporated community and Census designated place in Indiana, United States
Barbee is an unincorporated community in Tippecanoe Township, Kosciusko County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Elevation
- 840 ft
Questions about Barbee
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Barbee, IN expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.