Zionsville, St. John, Carmel: These cities aren’t just some of the best places to live in Indiana. They are also home to some of the richest people in the Hoosier State.
Zionsville in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $118,190 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 2.7%.
If you’re thinking of moving to one of these towns, you’ll probably need to start saving. The richest places in Indiana share common characteristics such as having a genius level populous, sky high home prices, and a Pleasantville level of married couples.
How did we come up with these mega wealthy cities? We analyzed Census data from the 2012-2016 American Community Survey for the 120 places in Indiana with more than 5,000 people.
- Zionsville (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- St. John (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Carmel (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Hunte (Homes For Sale)
- Winfield (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Westfield (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Bargersville (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- McCordsville (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Avon (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Brownsburg (Photos | Homes For Sale)
For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list of the richest cities in Indiana.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Indiana:
How We Determined The Richest Places In Indiana For 2018
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2012-2016 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
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 richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Zionsville, crowned the “Richest 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.
/10
Population: 25,709.0
Median Income: $118,190.0
Unemployment Rate: 2.6%
Poverty Rate: 2.7%
More on Zionsville: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Zionsville is a suburban town located in the extreme southeast area of Boone County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. The population was 14,160 at the 2010 census, and grew to 26,784 in the Census 2016 estimates.
/10
Population: 15,777.0
Median Income: $98,545.0
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Rate: 3.0%
More on St. John: Real Estate | Data | Photos
St. John is a town in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The town of St. John has homes in St. John Township, Hanover Township, and Center Township. St. John was founded in 1837. The population was 14,850 at the 2010 census. In 2009, St. John ranked 48th among CNN’s top 100 places to live in the United States. In 2014, St. John was ranked as the 4th safest place in Indiana by Movoto Real Estate.
/10
Population: 86,940.0
Median Income: $106,546.0
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 3.6%
More on Carmel: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Carmel /krml/ is a suburban city in Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, located immediately north of Indianapolis. It has been one of the fastest-growing communities in the country. In 2012, Carmel was selected as the “Best Place to Live in the United States” by CNN Money magazine, and received the same designation by Niche.com in 2017. The population was 79,191 as of the 2010 and was estimated to be 91,065 in 2016 by the US Census Bureau, making it the fifth-largest city in Indiana.
/10
Population: 5,286.0
Median Income: $72,292.0
Unemployment Rate: 2.4%
Poverty Rate: 6.4%
More on Hunte: Real Estate | Data
/10
Population: 5,233.0
Median Income: $93,571.0
Unemployment Rate: 4.4%
Poverty Rate: 1.3%
More on Winfield: Real Estate | Data | Photos
/10
Population: 34,284.0
Median Income: $90,048.0
Unemployment Rate: 3.1%
Poverty Rate: 6.6%
More on Westfield: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Westfield is a city in Hamilton County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 30,068, and in 2016 the estimated population was 37,221. Westfield is in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Area.
/10
Population: 6,824.0
Median Income: $72,096.0
Unemployment Rate: 2.6%
Poverty Rate: 8.3%
More on Bargersville: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Bargersville is a town in White River and Union townships, Johnson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 4,013 at the 2010 census.
/10
Population: 5,924.0
Median Income: $92,838.0
Unemployment Rate: 4.8%
Poverty Rate: 3.1%
More on Mccordsville: Real Estate | Data | Photos
McCordsville is a town in Vernon Township, Hancock County, Indiana, United States. The population was 4,797 at the 2010 census.
/10
Population: 15,712.0
Median Income: $93,116.0
Unemployment Rate: 4.8%
Poverty Rate: 3.8%
More on Avon: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Avon is a town in Washington Township, Hendricks County, Indiana, United States. The population was 12,446 at the 2010 census, and in 2016 the estimated population was 16,960.
/10
Population: 24,072.0
Median Income: $68,647.0
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 4.3%
More on Brownsburg: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Brownsburg is a town in Hendricks County, Indiana, United States. The population was 21,285 at the 2010 Census, an increase from 14,520 in 2000. As of 2016 the estimated population was 25,408.
There You Have It – The Wealthiest Places In Indiana For 2018
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest 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 top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Indiana, according to data:
Poorest: Gary
2nd Poorest: East Chicago
3rd Poorest: Muncie
For more Indiana reading, check out:
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In Indiana For 2018
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Indiana
- 10 Safest Places In Indiana
Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Indiana
| Rank | City | RichScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zionsville | 2.5 |
| 2 | St. John | 6.17 |
| 3 | Carmel | 7.17 |
| 4 | Hunte | 7.67 |
| 5 | Winfield | 9.33 |
| 6 | Westfield | 9.67 |
| 7 | Bargersville | 13.0 |
| 8 | Mccordsville | 13.17 |
| 9 | Avon | 13.5 |
| 10 | Brownsburg | 13.83 |
| 11 | Noblesville | 13.83 |
| 12 | Whitestown | 14.67 |
| 13 | Schererville | 19.17 |
| 14 | Jasper | 21.17 |
| 15 | Highland | 24.67 |
| 16 | Lebanon | 25.33 |
| 17 | Dyer | 25.5 |
| 18 | Batesville | 26.33 |
| 19 | Winona Lake | 27.67 |
| 20 | Crown Point | 27.67 |
| 21 | Sellersburg | 27.67 |
| 22 | Columbus | 30.17 |
| 23 | Plainfield | 31.83 |
| 24 | Franklin | 32.17 |
| 25 | New Whiteland | 32.5 |
| 26 | Danville | 32.67 |
| 27 | Chesterton | 34.33 |
| 28 | Nappanee | 34.33 |
| 29 | Yor | 35.17 |
| 30 | Cumberland | 35.17 |
| 31 | Munster | 36.0 |
| 32 | Auburn | 36.33 |
| 33 | Tipton | 37.17 |
| 34 | Lowell | 37.33 |
| 35 | Huntingburg | 39.5 |
| 36 | Greenwood | 40.67 |
| 37 | Warsaw | 42.0 |
| 38 | Clarksville | 43.5 |
| 39 | Greenfield | 43.5 |
| 40 | Jeffersonville | 44.0 |
| 41 | Rensselaer | 44.33 |
| 42 | Greencastle | 45.0 |
| 43 | Greensburg | 45.33 |
| 44 | Ellettsville | 45.5 |
| 45 | Hobart | 46.33 |
| 46 | Valparaiso | 46.67 |
| 47 | Scottsburg | 48.67 |
| 48 | Seymour | 48.67 |
| 49 | Charlestown | 48.67 |
| 50 | Griffith | 49.5 |
| 51 | Mount Vernon | 50.0 |
| 52 | Columbia City | 51.83 |
| 53 | New Haven | 51.83 |
| 54 | Portage | 52.17 |
| 55 | Cedar Lake | 53.17 |
| 56 | Mooresville | 53.17 |
| 57 | Tell City | 54.17 |
| 58 | Boonville | 55.17 |
| 59 | Rochester | 55.67 |
| 60 | Merrillville | 56.0 |
| 61 | Monticello | 58.33 |
| 62 | North Vernon | 61.17 |
| 63 | Rushville | 64.0 |
| 64 | Bluffton | 64.17 |
| 65 | Wabash | 66.17 |
| 66 | Princeton | 66.17 |
| 67 | Gas City | 66.17 |
| 68 | Lawrence | 66.33 |
| 69 | North Manchester | 66.5 |
| 70 | Frankfort | 67.17 |
| 71 | Madison | 67.17 |
| 72 | Bedford | 67.17 |
| 73 | Huntington | 68.0 |
| 74 | Angola | 68.83 |
| 75 | Goshen | 69.0 |
| 76 | Fort Wayne | 69.33 |
| 77 | Decatur | 69.33 |
| 78 | Garrett | 70.83 |
| 79 | Mishawaka | 72.5 |
| 80 | Westville | 75.17 |
| 81 | Vincennes | 75.17 |
| 82 | Lafayette | 75.5 |
| 83 | Shelbyville | 76.5 |
| 84 | Alexandria | 76.83 |
| 85 | New Albany | 80.67 |
| 86 | Speedway | 81.0 |
| 87 | Indianapolis | 81.67 |
| 88 | Hartford City | 83.17 |
| 89 | Crawfordsville | 83.83 |
| 90 | Evansville | 85.17 |
| 91 | Kokomo | 86.17 |
| 92 | Martinsville | 88.5 |
| 93 | Portland | 89.67 |
| 94 | Beech Grove | 90.67 |
| 95 | West Lafayette | 91.67 |
| 96 | La Porte | 93.17 |
| 97 | Logansport | 94.0 |
| 98 | Hammond | 94.17 |
| 99 | Linton | 94.33 |
| 100 | Kendallville | 95.0 |
