Indiana brings to mind images of Indianapolis, beautiful landscapes, and some of the best people you’ll find in the good ole US of A.
However, like all states, Indiana has certain places that are going on hard times. These places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sites on bringing attention to the places in Indiana that could use a helping hand.
To do so, we analyzed the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 120 places in Indiana with more than 5,000 people.
We were left with this set of the ten poorest places in the Hoosier State for 2018:
- Gary (Photos)
- East Chicago (Photos)
- Muncie (Photos)
- Brazil (Photos)
- Connersville (Photos)
- Peru (Photos)
- Plymouth (Photos)
- Terre Haute (Photos)
- Marion (Photos)
- Michigan City (Photos)
Again, 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.
And according to the facts, Gary is the poorest place in Indiana for 2018.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the richest places in Indiana or the most dangerous.
For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.
How We Determined The Poorest Places In Indiana For 2018
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 looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2012-2016 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income adjusted for the cost of living
- Unemployment Rate
The ‘median household income adjusted for the cost of living’ attempts to gauge how expensive it is to live in a place and how that impacts the quality of life. For example, a town might have fewer people living below the official poverty line, but the cost of living is so high they’d still feel poor.
The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.
After we collected the data for all 120 places with more than 5,000 people in Indiana, we ranked each place from 1 to 120 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, Gary, crowned the ‘Poorest Place In Indiana For 2018’.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 120 places.
1. Gary
Population: 77,858Median Income: $28,895
Unemployment Rate: 16.6%
Poverty Rate: 35.9%
Gary, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Indiana thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 77,858 people averages the 3rd lowest median household income in Indiana and the 3rd 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. East Chicago
Population: 28,961Median Income: $27,264
Unemployment Rate: 16.2%
Poverty Rate: 35.3%
The second poorest city in Indiana is East Chicago.
The city ranks as having the 4th highest incidence of poverty and 1st lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 2nd highest in the Hoosier State.
3. Muncie
Population: 69,583Median Income: $31,373
Unemployment Rate: 11.4%
Poverty Rate: 30.9%
Placing as the third poorest city, Muncie’s median income ranks as the 7th 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 30.9% 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. Brazil
Population: 8,105Median Income: $29,531
Unemployment Rate: 10.2%
Poverty Rate: 31.6%
Brazil ranks as the fourth poorest place in Indiana.
The town ranks as having the 4th lowest median household income and the 5th 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. Connersville
Population: 13,202Median Income: $32,157
Unemployment Rate: 11.7%
Poverty Rate: 25.0%
The fifth poorest city in Indiana is Connersville.
The city ranks as having the 9th 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 15th highest in Indiana.
Still not the best news for Connersville.
6. Peru
Population: 11,415Median Income: $32,404
Unemployment Rate: 12.5%
Poverty Rate: 24.7%
Peru ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Hoosier State.
It ranks as having the 17th highest incidence of poverty and the 5th highest unemployment rate.
7. Plymouth
Population: 10,012Median Income: $33,481
Unemployment Rate: 12.8%
Poverty Rate: 24.5%
Plymouth places as the seventh poorest city in Indiana.
The city of over 10,012 ranks as having the 18th 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. Terre Haute
Population: 61,021Median Income: $33,378
Unemployment Rate: 10.2%
Poverty Rate: 26.4%
Terre Haute ranks as the eighth poorest city in Indiana.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 15th highest in the state.
9. Marion
Population: 28,698Median Income: $31,588
Unemployment Rate: 10.0%
Poverty Rate: 25.9%
Marion couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Indiana; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 8th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Marion ranks as having the 12th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Indiana.
10. Michigan City
Population: 31,374Median Income: $37,742
Unemployment Rate: 13.0%
Poverty Rate: 27.2%
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Indiana is Michigan City.
The city of 31,374 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Hoosier State.
There You Have It – The Poorest Places In Indiana For 2018
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: Zionsville
2nd Richest: St. John
3rd Richest: Carmel
For more Indiana reading , check out:
