Like all states, Indiana has certain places that are going on hard times. These Indiana places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Indiana.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 124 cities in Indiana with more than 5,000 people.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Poorest Places In Indiana For 2024:
What’s the poorest city in Indiana? According to the facts, West Lafayette is the poorest place in Indiana for 2024.
This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
For more Indiana reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Indiana
- Cheapest Places To Live In Indiana
- Most Dangerous Cities In Indiana
- The poorest states in the US
- The poorest cities in the US
The 10 Poorest Cities In Indiana For 2024
1. West Lafayette
/10
Population: 44,861
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $30,317 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 39.2% (highest)
People In Poverty: 17,576
More on West Lafayette: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
West Lafayette, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Indiana thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 44,861 people averages the lowest median household income in Indiana and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. Gary
/10
Population: 69,136
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 1)
Median Income: $36,874 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 32.2% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 22,254
More on Gary: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
The second poorest city in Indiana is Gary.
The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 3rd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 2nd highest in the Hoosier State.
3. Scottsburg
/10
Population: 7,313
Rank Last Year: 12 (Up 9)
Median Income: $34,774 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 25.7% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,879
More on Scottsburg: Data | Cost Of Living
Placing as the third poorest city, Scottsburg’s median income ranks as the 2nd lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 25.7% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Hoosier State.
4. Muncie
/10
Population: 65,167
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Income: $40,309 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 30.4% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 19,830
More on Muncie: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Muncie ranks as the fourth poorest place in Indiana.
The town ranks as having the 7th lowest median household income and the 4th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. East Chicago
/10
Population: 26,363
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 2)
Median Income: $39,434 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 27.0% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 7,118
More on East Chicago: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
The fifth poorest city in Indiana is East Chicago.
The city ranks as having the 6th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 6th highest in Indiana.
Still not the best news for East Chicago.
6. Terre Haute
/10
Population: 58,599
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 2)
Median Income: $41,230 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 26.4% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 15,487
More on Terre Haute: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Terre Haute ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Hoosier State.
It ranks as having the 7th highest incidence of poverty and the 15th highest unemployment rate.
7. Marion
/10
Population: 27,528
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $42,366 (11th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 28.1% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 7,746
More on Marion: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Marion places as the seventh poorest city in Indiana.
The city of over 27,528 ranks as having the 5th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. Hartford City
/10
Population: 5,789
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 3)
Median Income: $37,584 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 21.8% (13th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,262
More on Hartford City: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Hartford City ranks as the eighth poorest city in Indiana.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
9. Bloomington
/10
Population: 79,006
Rank Last Year: 9 (No Change)
Median Income: $46,543 (18th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 31.1% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 24,555
More on Bloomington: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Bloomington couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Indiana; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 18th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Bloomington ranks as having the 3rd most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Indiana.
10. Connersville
/10
Population: 13,395
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Median Income: $41,769 (10th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 22.2% (12th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,972
More on Connersville: Data | Cost Of Living
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Indiana is Connersville.
The city of 13,395 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Hoosier State.
Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Indiana for 2024
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2018-2022 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 124 places with more than 5,000 people in Indiana, we ranked each place from 1 to 124 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, West Lafayette, crowned the “Poorest Place In Indiana For 2024”.
This report has been updated for 2024, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Indiana.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In Indiana For 2024
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Indiana, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Indiana.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Indiana, according to data:
-
Richest: Winfield
2nd Richest: St. John
3rd Richest: Carmel
For more Indiana reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Indiana
- Safest Places In Indiana
- Worst Places To Live In Indiana
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Indiana
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Indiana
| Rank | City | Population | Poverty Rate | Median Income | People In Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Lafayette | 44,861 | 39.2% | $30,317 | 17,576 |
| 2 | Gary | 69,136 | 32.2% | $36,874 | 22,254 |
| 3 | Scottsburg | 7,313 | 25.7% | $34,774 | 1,879 |
| 4 | Muncie | 65,167 | 30.4% | $40,309 | 19,830 |
| 5 | East Chicago | 26,363 | 27.0% | $39,434 | 7,118 |
| 6 | Terre Haute | 58,599 | 26.4% | $41,230 | 15,487 |
| 7 | Marion | 27,528 | 28.1% | $42,366 | 7,746 |
| 8 | Hartford City | 5,789 | 21.8% | $37,584 | 1,262 |
| 9 | Bloomington | 79,006 | 31.1% | $46,543 | 24,555 |
| 10 | Connersville | 13,395 | 22.2% | $41,769 | 2,972 |
| 11 | Peru | 10,862 | 25.5% | $44,665 | 2,768 |
| 12 | Lawrenceburg | 5,140 | 20.4% | $41,557 | 1,050 |
| 13 | Anderson | 55,011 | 21.8% | $44,974 | 11,981 |
| 14 | Richmond | 35,642 | 21.5% | $46,356 | 7,670 |
| 15 | Salem | 6,330 | 25.0% | $48,205 | 1,584 |
| 16 | Linton | 5,149 | 18.2% | $38,438 | 939 |
| 17 | Crawfordsville | 16,335 | 20.7% | $46,918 | 3,378 |
| 18 | South Bend | 103,084 | 22.5% | $49,056 | 23,173 |
| 19 | North Vernon | 6,935 | 20.0% | $46,889 | 1,386 |
| 20 | Elkhart | 53,785 | 19.6% | $46,534 | 10,531 |
| 21 | Vincennes | 16,715 | 20.0% | $47,376 | 3,341 |
| 22 | Logansport | 18,166 | 18.5% | $45,335 | 3,364 |
| 23 | New Castle | 17,413 | 19.4% | $46,925 | 3,383 |
| 24 | Tell City | 7,470 | 19.1% | $49,761 | 1,426 |
| 25 | Michigan City | 31,983 | 21.2% | $51,554 | 6,789 |
| 26 | Evansville | 116,906 | 18.6% | $49,853 | 21,697 |
| 27 | Hammond | 77,390 | 19.9% | $52,368 | 15,408 |
| 28 | Portland | 6,432 | 14.7% | $44,292 | 942 |
| 29 | Washington | 12,076 | 15.8% | $48,255 | 1,912 |
| 30 | Huntington | 17,017 | 17.5% | $50,748 | 2,981 |
| 31 | Bedford | 13,802 | 15.7% | $49,492 | 2,165 |
| 32 | Lafayette | 70,828 | 16.5% | $50,674 | 11,665 |
| 33 | Madison | 12,301 | 18.2% | $53,113 | 2,244 |
| 34 | Elwood | 8,339 | 16.8% | $52,139 | 1,396 |
| 35 | Speedway | 13,646 | 17.2% | $52,627 | 2,348 |
| 36 | Shelbyville | 19,678 | 18.8% | $55,850 | 3,701 |
| 37 | Lake Station | 13,352 | 18.2% | $53,588 | 2,427 |
| 38 | Plymouth | 10,369 | 14.7% | $49,306 | 1,526 |
| 39 | La Porte | 22,409 | 18.6% | $55,031 | 4,156 |
| 40 | Brazil | 8,114 | 15.1% | $50,153 | 1,228 |
| 41 | New Albany | 37,598 | 17.7% | $53,982 | 6,643 |
| 42 | Mishawaka | 50,899 | 15.3% | $51,543 | 7,812 |
| 43 | Goshen | 34,704 | 15.6% | $52,233 | 5,410 |
| 44 | Seymour | 21,373 | 16.7% | $57,347 | 3,573 |
| 45 | Huntingburg | 6,480 | 14.1% | $50,023 | 916 |
| 46 | Rushville | 6,412 | 15.1% | $53,110 | 970 |
| 47 | Kokomo | 59,534 | 14.8% | $53,967 | 8,781 |
| 48 | Frankfort | 15,976 | 11.0% | $49,821 | 1,758 |
| 49 | Gas City | 6,099 | 16.5% | $58,778 | 1,007 |
| 50 | Wabash | 10,417 | 11.8% | $51,127 | 1,227 |
| 51 | Clarksville | 22,087 | 14.4% | $53,620 | 3,180 |
| 52 | Fort Wayne | 264,514 | 15.2% | $58,233 | 40,100 |
| 53 | Indianapolis | 882,006 | 15.9% | $59,110 | 139,886 |
| 54 | Warsaw | 16,473 | 14.5% | $57,931 | 2,391 |
| 55 | Monticello | 5,488 | 8.8% | $48,847 | 480 |
| 56 | Angola | 9,317 | 14.5% | $58,627 | 1,353 |
| 57 | Rochester | 6,236 | 15.4% | $62,885 | 961 |
| 58 | Valparaiso | 33,991 | 14.9% | $59,943 | 5,068 |
| 59 | Princeton | 8,344 | 11.8% | $56,378 | 988 |
| 60 | Columbia City | 9,478 | 13.0% | $58,019 | 1,228 |
| 61 | Beech Grove | 15,181 | 9.6% | $51,352 | 1,458 |
| 62 | Mount Vernon | 6,480 | 12.8% | $58,370 | 826 |
| 63 | Boonville | 6,670 | 14.2% | $59,229 | 944 |
| 64 | Greencastle | 9,865 | 9.4% | $51,836 | 923 |
| 65 | Decatur | 9,718 | 10.4% | $54,369 | 1,009 |
| 66 | Tipton | 5,255 | 15.0% | $64,167 | 788 |
| 67 | Batesville | 7,052 | 16.1% | $72,794 | 1,137 |
| 68 | Merrillville | 36,214 | 14.5% | $62,221 | 5,236 |
| 69 | Auburn | 13,316 | 11.5% | $58,635 | 1,531 |
| 70 | Greensburg | 11,431 | 13.0% | $61,864 | 1,486 |
| 71 | Alexandria | 5,144 | 10.8% | $58,269 | 557 |
| 72 | Charlestown | 7,986 | 14.5% | $66,285 | 1,157 |
| 73 | Westville | 5,885 | 10.0% | $57,889 | 590 |
| 74 | Martinsville | 11,916 | 9.9% | $57,383 | 1,179 |
| 75 | Jasper | 16,488 | 12.2% | $62,657 | 2,019 |
| 76 | Bluffton | 10,461 | 9.3% | $56,955 | 972 |
| 77 | Hobart | 29,573 | 14.0% | $69,398 | 4,137 |
| 78 | Mooresville | 9,525 | 12.3% | $68,089 | 1,168 |
| 79 | North Manchester | 5,017 | 10.9% | $63,029 | 547 |
| 80 | Garrett | 6,434 | 10.3% | $61,814 | 661 |
| 81 | Rensselaer | 5,330 | 9.0% | $58,659 | 478 |
| 82 | Cicero | 5,356 | 10.3% | $63,288 | 553 |
| 83 | Jeffersonville | 49,771 | 10.4% | $67,566 | 5,201 |
| 84 | Portage | 37,737 | 11.4% | $71,317 | 4,309 |
| 85 | Columbus | 50,896 | 12.0% | $75,114 | 6,092 |
| 86 | Franklin | 26,073 | 11.2% | $72,344 | 2,922 |
| 87 | Lebanon | 17,277 | 9.6% | $63,125 | 1,656 |
| 88 | Kendallville | 10,176 | 7.9% | $59,971 | 807 |
| 89 | Nappanee | 7,276 | 9.8% | $68,750 | 713 |
| 90 | Lawrence | 49,218 | 9.6% | $70,762 | 4,734 |
| 91 | New Haven | 15,552 | 7.7% | $63,744 | 1,194 |
| 92 | Highland | 23,794 | 9.1% | $74,991 | 2,170 |
| 93 | Chesterton | 14,191 | 10.7% | $90,753 | 1,512 |
| 94 | Griffith | 16,182 | 8.8% | $74,350 | 1,420 |
| 95 | Greenfield | 23,669 | 5.9% | $69,571 | 1,389 |
| 96 | Sellersburg | 9,948 | 4.3% | $67,230 | 430 |
| 97 | Greenwood | 63,579 | 6.9% | $75,398 | 4,406 |
| 98 | Winona Lake | 5,077 | 7.1% | $77,305 | 358 |
| 99 | Bargersville | 9,520 | 9.8% | $102,045 | 931 |
| 100 | Plainfield | 35,078 | 6.8% | $77,249 | 2,395 |