Most Expensive Places To Live In Indiana For 2020

The 10 Most Expensive Places To Live In Indiana For 2020

1. West Lafayette

West Lafayette is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about 65 miles northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and 103 miles southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city, Lafayette. As of the 2016 census estimate, its population was 45,872. It is the most densely populated city in Indiana and is home to Purdue University.

The median income in West Lafayette comes in at $33,270 and the median home value is $217,300 for 2020.

2. Bloomington

Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Monroe County History Center, Bloomington is known as the "Gateway to Scenic Southern Indiana." The city was established in 1818 by a group of settlers from Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Virginia who were so impressed with "a haven of blooms" that they called it Bloomington.

The median income in Bloomington comes in at $34,435 and the median home value is $182,100 for 2020.

The median income in Whitestown comes in at $77,802 and the median home value is $217,300 for 2020.

4. Valparaiso

Valparaiso is a city and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 31,730 at the 2010 census.

The median income in Valparaiso comes in at $54,563 and the median home value is $175,100 for 2020.

5. Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. It is in the East North Central region of the Midwestern United States. With an estimated population of 855,164 in 2016, Indianapolis is the second most populous city in the Midwest and 15th most populous in the U.S. The city is the economic and cultural center of the Indianapolis metropolitan area, home to 2 million people, the 34th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. Its combined statistical area ranks 27th, with 2.38 million inhabitants. Indianapolis covers 368 square miles, making it the 16th largest city by land area in the U.S.

The median income in Indianapolis comes in at $46,442 and the median home value is $129,300 for 2020.

6. Speedway

Speedway is a town in Wayne Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 11,812 at the 2010 census. Speedway is home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; it is an enclave of Indianapolis.

The median income in Speedway comes in at $41,325 and the median home value is $119,400 for 2020.

7. Madison

Madison is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. Its estimated population was 12,247 as of 2016. Over 55,000 people live within 15 miles of downtown Madison. Madison is the largest city along the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. Madison is one of the core cities of the Louisville-Elizabethtown-Madison metroplex, an area with a population of approximately 1.5 million. In 2006, the majority of Madison's downtown area was designated the largest contiguous National Historic Landmark in the United States-133 blocks of the downtown area is known as the Madison Historic Landmark District.

The median income in Madison comes in at $40,197 and the median home value is $128,000 for 2020.

8. Angola

Angola is a city in Pleasant Township, Steuben County, Indiana, United States. The population was 8,612 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Steuben County. Angola was founded by Thomas Gale and Cornelius Gilmore on June 28, 1838, and is home to Trine University. The town is served by I-69 and the Indiana Toll Road.

The median income in Angola comes in at $42,857 and the median home value is $121,500 for 2020.

9. Lawrence

Lawrence is a city in Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is one of four "excluded cities" in Marion County. The city is home to Fort Benjamin Harrison within Fort Harrison State Park. The population was 46,001 at the 2010 census. The city is also adjacent to the east side of Indianapolis.

The median income in Lawrence comes in at $52,048 and the median home value is $141,300 for 2020.

10. Clarksville

Clarksville is a town in Clark County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River and is a part of the Louisville Metropolitan area. The population was 21,724 at the 2010 census. The town was founded in 1783 by early resident George Rogers Clark at the only seasonal rapids on the entire Ohio River, it is the oldest American town in the former Northwest Territory. The town is home to the Colgate clock, one of the largest clocks in the world and the Falls of the Ohio State Park, home to the world's largest exposed Devonian period fossil bed.

The median income in Clarksville comes in at $42,744 and the median home value is $114,000 for 2020.

How We Determined The Most Expensive Places To Live In The Hoosier State For 2020

The two most important things to think about when it comes to being able to afford if you can live comes down to:

1. How much do money do I make?
2. 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 2014-2018 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 119 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.