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Everyone wants a home that mixes affordability with comfort and Indiana does this very well. Families love the Hoosier State's beaches, midlands, and mountains as tourists before moving here and calling it home.
But before you decide to relocate, you have to do some research into the exact cost of living around the state -- and that's how we're going to help you.
These are the places in Indiana that cost a pretty penny -- the most expensive cities in the state.
After we saved up for months and could finally afford it, we landed on this list of the ten most expensive cities in Indiana for 2023.
So where is the most expensive place to live in Indiana? That would be West Lafayette.
the 2017-2021 American Community Survey for the 118 places in Indiana with more than 5,000 people.
Here are the 10 most expensive places to live in Indiana for 2023:
What's the most expensive place to live in Indiana? Well, HomeSnacks crunched the numbers and discovered that West Lafayette is the most expensive place to live in Indiana.
So hopefully Wabash (the cheapest place to live in Indiana) can show these guys how to live on a budget in the coming years. Read on for how these places had costs rise faster than inflation.
And if you already knew these places were expensive, check out some more reading about Indiana and the most expensive cities in the country:
The 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In Indiana For 2023
1. West Lafayette
/10
Population: 44,515
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 8.6x (most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 30.1x (most expensive)
More on West Lafayette: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in West Lafayette comes in at $28,744 and the median home value is $248,100 for 2023.
2. Bloomington
/10
Population: 80,064
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 5.5x (2nd most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 42.5x (4th most expensive)
More on Bloomington: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Bloomington comes in at $41,995 and the median home value is $231,500 for 2023.
3. Valparaiso
/10
Population: 33,820
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.5x (4th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 56.7x (27th most expensive)
More on Valparaiso: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Valparaiso comes in at $56,465 and the median home value is $199,200 for 2023.
4. Lawrenceburg
/10
Population: 5,083
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 4.6x (3rd most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 40.0x (2nd most expensive)
More on Lawrenceburg: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Lawrenceburg comes in at $28,902 and the median home value is $132,400 for 2023.
5. Winfield
/10
Population: 6,924
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 8)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.7x (25th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 59.4x (37th most expensive)
More on Winfield: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Winfield comes in at $113,352 and the median home value is $302,800 for 2023.
6. Speedway
/10
Population: 13,613
Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.9x (14th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 52.0x (9th most expensive)
More on Speedway: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Speedway comes in at $49,044 and the median home value is $142,800 for 2023.
7. Plainfield
/10
Population: 34,311
Rank Last Year: 8 (No Change)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.0x (13th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 61.5x (48th most expensive)
More on Plainfield: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Plainfield comes in at $68,541 and the median home value is $203,700 for 2023.
8. Indianapolis
/10
Population: 880,104
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 4)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.9x (15th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 56.5x (26th most expensive)
More on Indianapolis: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Indianapolis comes in at $54,321 and the median home value is $156,300 for 2023.
9. Angola
/10
Population: 8,916
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 3)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 3.2x (5th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 59.3x (36th most expensive)
More on Angola: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The median income in Angola comes in at $46,616 and the median home value is $148,800 for 2023.
10. Sellersburg
/10
Population: 9,686
Rank Last Year: 36 (Up 25)
Home Price To Income Ratio: 2.8x (17th most expensive)
Income To Rent Ratio: 61.1x (42nd most expensive)
More on Sellersburg: Real Estate | Data
The median income in Sellersburg comes in at $59,130 and the median home value is $168,400 for 2023.
Methodology: How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Hoosier State For 2023
The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:
- How much do money do I make?
- How much do I have spend to live there?
You need to understand your costs in the context of how much money you make.
For example, if the median household earns $100,000 and spends $40,000 on housing it's actually cheaper to live there than a place with a median income of $50,000 and housing costs of $21,000. You might spend more on housing, but you have more money overall to play with.
With that example in mind, we derived several statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2017-2021 around incomes and costs. They are:
- Median Home Price / Median Income (lower is better)
- Median Income / Median Rent (Higher is better)
- Median Home Price
We added simply median home price because high home prices generally correlate with higher expenses for all costs related to homes (heating, electricity, etc).
You can then compare these metrics in each of the places in Indiana to figure out which is the most expensive.
What you are left with is a "Cost of Living Index" by taking the average rank of each of these metrics for each city.
So we used that cost of living index in order to rank all of the 118 places in Indiana that have more than 5,000 people.
The place with the highest cost of living in Indiana according to the data is West Lafayette. You can download the data here.
Summary: Taking A Chunk Out Of Your Paycheck In Indiana For 2023
Well there you have it, the places in Indiana that have the highest cost of living, with West Lafayette ranking as the most expensive city in the Hoosier State.
Here's a look at the most affordable cities in Indiana according to the data:
- Wabash
- Rushville
- Kendallville
For more Indiana reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Indiana
- Cheapest Places To Live In Indiana
- Most Dangerous Cities In Indiana
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Indiana
- Safest Places In Indiana
- Worst Places To Live In Indiana
Detailed List Of The Most Expensive Cities In Indiana
| Rank | City | ExpensiveScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Lafayette | 3.67 |
| 2 | Bloomington | 7.33 |
| 3 | Valparaiso | 17.67 |
| 4 | Lawrenceburg | 22.0 |
| 5 | Winfield | 22.33 |
| 6 | Speedway | 25.0 |
| 7 | Plainfield | 27.33 |
| 8 | Indianapolis | 27.83 |
| 9 | Angola | 29.67 |
| 10 | Sellersburg | 30.0 |
| 11 | Lafayette | 35.33 |
| 12 | New Albany | 35.33 |
| 13 | Scottsburg | 36.0 |
| 14 | Goshen | 37.0 |
| 15 | Hobart | 37.0 |
| 16 | Clarksville | 37.0 |
| 17 | Schererville | 37.0 |
| 18 | Beech Grove | 40.0 |
| 19 | Merrillville | 40.0 |
| 20 | Madison | 40.33 |
| 21 | Greencastle | 40.33 |
| 22 | Bargersville | 41.33 |
| 23 | Carmel | 42.67 |
| 24 | Lowell | 43.33 |
| 25 | Zionsville | 43.67 |
| 26 | Avon | 43.67 |
| 27 | Jeffersonville | 43.83 |
| 28 | Greenwood | 44.33 |
| 29 | Cedar Lake | 44.67 |
| 30 | Portage | 45.0 |
| 31 | Westfield | 45.33 |
| 32 | Whitestown | 45.67 |
| 33 | Highland | 46.33 |
| 34 | Noblesville | 46.67 |
| 35 | Chesterton | 49.33 |
| 36 | Seymour | 49.67 |
| 37 | Columbus | 50.33 |
| 38 | Mccordsville | 51.0 |
| 39 | Franklin | 51.0 |
| 40 | Crown Point | 51.33 |
| 41 | Lawrence | 51.67 |
| 42 | Crawfordsville | 51.67 |
| 43 | Dyer | 51.67 |
| 44 | St. John | 53.0 |
| 45 | Mishawaka | 55.0 |
| 46 | Columbia City | 55.33 |
| 47 | Hammond | 56.0 |
| 48 | Greenfield | 56.17 |
| 49 | Jasper | 56.33 |
| 50 | Warsaw | 56.67 |
| 51 | Munster | 57.0 |
| 52 | Hunte | 57.33 |
| 53 | La Porte | 57.33 |
| 54 | Griffith | 57.67 |
| 55 | Huntingburg | 58.33 |
| 56 | Batesville | 59.0 |
| 57 | Evansville | 60.33 |
| 58 | Elkhart | 61.0 |
| 59 | Brownsburg | 61.67 |
| 60 | Lebanon | 62.33 |
| 61 | Terre Haute | 62.33 |
| 62 | Fort Wayne | 63.0 |
| 63 | Salem | 63.5 |
| 64 | Mount Vernon | 63.67 |
| 65 | Plymouth | 64.33 |
| 66 | Nappanee | 65.17 |
| 67 | Bedford | 66.33 |
| 68 | Anderson | 68.33 |
| 69 | Muncie | 68.33 |
| 70 | South Bend | 68.67 |
| 71 | Rensselaer | 69.0 |
| 72 | Danville | 69.33 |
| 73 | Cumberland | 70.0 |
| 74 | Washington | 70.67 |
| 75 | Ellettsville | 71.0 |
| 76 | Gary | 71.33 |
| 77 | Charlestown | 71.33 |
| 78 | Martinsville | 72.0 |
| 79 | Mooresville | 72.33 |
| 80 | Michigan City | 72.33 |
| 81 | Westville | 72.33 |
| 82 | Auburn | 72.67 |
| 83 | Richmond | 73.0 |
| 84 | New Haven | 73.67 |
| 85 | East Chicago | 75.67 |
| 86 | Monticello | 76.0 |
| 87 | Greensburg | 78.0 |
| 88 | Frankfort | 78.67 |
| 89 | Lake Station | 79.33 |
| 90 | Linton | 81.0 |
| 91 | New Whiteland | 82.0 |
| 92 | Marion | 82.0 |
| 93 | Connersville | 82.33 |
| 94 | Boonville | 82.67 |
| 95 | Decatur | 83.0 |
| 96 | Rochester | 83.33 |
| 97 | Hartford City | 84.67 |
| 98 | Portland | 89.0 |
| 99 | Vincennes | 89.0 |
| 100 | Peru | 89.0 |
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