The 10 Worst Indianapolis Suburbs

The 10 Worst Indianapolis Suburbs To Live For 2024

We’ll get the ball rolling with Morgantown, the absolute worst place to live around Indianapolis according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Morgantown beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the Indianapolis area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Morgantown.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area. There aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

Welcome to Speedway. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 5.5 miles to Indianapolis. Income levels here are the 3rd lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $52,627 a year, which only goes so far even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Indianapolis suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Sheridan on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school dropout rate is poor compared to other Indianapolis suburbs.

But at least there are lovely parks to bring the kids during the day.

If you live in Beech Grove, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 2nd lowest Indianapolis suburb for median household incomes.

Not only that, but this is the 6th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Indianapolis. Remember, we looked at 34 cities for this study.

Beech Grove is about 5.3 miles to downtown.

Shelbyville has the distinction of being a Indianapolis suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Shelbyville has the 5th lowest home values in the metro Indianapolis area, where the median price is $201,373. The median income is $152,788.

Shelbyville has an unemployment rate of 2.81% which ranks 23rd worst.

Lebanon has 17,277 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom, and the poverty rate sits at 9.590692627644824%.

Ah, Ingalls. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Indianapolis.

It’s the place with the 13th most out of work residents in the Indianapolis metro area (4.5%).

Lawrence is a city about 10.3 miles from Indianapolis, but Indianapolis probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a worse place to live. Lawrence has the 4th most uninsured people, 15th worst incomes, and has the 4th highest unemployment rate (5.38%) in the entire Indianapolis metro area.

Homes only cost $252,234 for a reason. That’s cheap for Indianapolis standards.

If you absolutely have to live near Indianapolis, then Brooklyn might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Indianapolis suburb.

About 1.34% of residents are out of work.

Rounding out the ten worst Indianapolis suburbs to call home is Southport.

Located 8.2 miles outside the city, Southports is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 12th highest unemployment rate (4.57%), and poverty is far above the area average.