Name: Indianapolis, IN
Rating: 1.9

Livability

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Cost of living

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Crime

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Demographics

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Employment

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Real Estate

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Indianapolis

Population: 846,674Median home value: $120,400 70

#320 in Indiana
#11,480 in USA

Ranks better than 60% of areas

Livability Awards

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A+ Indianapolis Amenities Lots of amenities close to this location

B Indianapolis Cost of Living Cost of living is equal to Indiana

Indianapolis

8911% less expensive than the US average

Indiana

8911% less expensive than the US average

United States

100National cost of living index

Indianapolis cost of living

F Indianapolis Crime Total crime is 104% higher than Indiana

Total crime

5,746109% higher than the US average

Chance of being a victim

1 in 18109% higher than the US average

Year-over-year crime

-5%Year over year crime is down

Indianapolis crime

D- Indianapolis Employment Household income is 15% lower than Indiana

Median household income

$43,10122% lower than the US average

Income per capita

$25,09416% lower than the US average

Unemployment rate

6%31% higher than the US average

Indianapolis employment

B+ Indianapolis Housing Home value is 5% lower than Indiana

Median home value

$120,40035% lower than the US average

Median rent price

$81115% lower than the US average

Home ownership

53%17% lower than the US average

Indianapolis real estate or Indianapolis rentals

C Indianapolis Schools HS graduation rate is 3% lower than Indiana

High school grad. rates

81%3% lower than the US average

School test scores

54%9% higher than the US average

Student teacher ratio

17:18% higher than the US average

Indianapolis K-12 schools or Indianapolis colleges

Living in Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis, Indiana is a big city with a population of 846,674 residents. Not a fan of sitting in traffic? One big advantage of living in Indianapolis is the reasonable commute times to work. With an average one way commute time of 23 minutes, getting to work is faster than the national average of 26 minutes.

Are you trying to decide if living in Indianapolis is the right fit for your lifestyle? To ensure a fulfilling experience before relocating to any new city in Indiana, you will probably want to make sure that you check all of the most important boxes. Using the livability score which includes data from categories like amenities, crime, education, you can easily compare the best places to live in Indianapolis and also determine if there are any nearby cities that might be a better match for your lifestyle. You can also compare Indianapolis to Indiana and the national average.

Indianapolis has a livability score of 69/100 and is ranked #320 in Indiana and #11,480 in the USA. If we probe a little deeper into each category within the livability score, we see that Indianapolis has higher than average rankings for the following: amenities (A+), cost of living (B) and housing (B+). There are some categories that Indianapolis scores poorly for, including: crime (F) and employment (D-). It might be worth taking a closer look to determine why.

Conveniently located amenities and interesting attractions are a great way to continuously enjoy Indianapolis on a regular basis. Knowing that there are an abundance of amenities and things to do can ensure that you always have access to nearby grocery stores, restaurants and coffee shops. Here are some of the more popular things to do in Indianapolis: Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Zoo, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hall of Fame Museum.

Finding affordable real estate and apartments for rent in Indianapolis can be tricky. Having said that, this area might be the place to get the best of both worlds. Based on factors like home/rental affordability and appreciation rates, this area has received an above average score in the housing category.

There are many factors that go into deciding if an area is the right fit for your lifestyle. Certain “must haves” like low crime, great schools and nearby amenities are all at the top of most people's lists. But before even considering if those options are available, most people will need to know if the real estate in Indianapolis is actually affordable. Median real estate prices in Indianapolis come in at $120,400, which is 4.8% lower than the Indiana average. The home price to income ratio compares the median home prices to the median household income. In Indianapolis, the home price to income ratio is 2.8, which is 12% higher than the Indiana average. Year over year appreciation rates for homes in the Indianapolis area were 12.1% and the 5 year appreciation rates came in at 8.4%. Why is this important? Knowing the appreciation rates for any area is a quick and easy way to determine if you will see a solid return on your investment.

The best places in Indiana

Here are the best places to live in Indiana

These are the 10 most affordable cities in Indiana

Top 10 best public schools in Indianapolis

10 best cities to buy a new house in Indiana

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Monthly costs include: fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance, license fees, taxes, depreciation, and financing.

	Walk	Bike	Compact	Car	S.U.V.
Distance
Duration
Cost/Month

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Compare Indianapolis, IN Livability To Other Cities

Best Cities Near Indianapolis, IN

Place	Livability scoreScore	Miles	PopulationPop.
Woodlawn Heights, IN	89	33.5	67
Country Club Heights, IN	88	34.1	115
Carmel, IN	86	13	86,940
Southport, IN	86	8.2	2,067

Place	Livability scoreScore	Miles	PopulationPop.
Ulen, IN	86	26.2	139
Fishers, IN	85	14.3	85,887
Homecroft, IN	84	7.4	695
Wynnedale, IN	83	4.8	160

See all Indiana cities

Indianapolis Reviews

Write a review about Indianapolis Tell people what you like or don't like about Indianapolis…

Review Indianapolis

Even Peyton Manning Left This Dump, Never to Return

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I grew up in Indianapolis. I was a smart child and figured it out pretty quickly. Name one other city where half the residents don't have the intellectual capacity to say the name? OK, I admit, six is a lot of syllables. To the average Hoosier, it's a bit overwhelming and so they come up with all sorts of alternatives. My favorite is In-duh-napples. That's only 4 syllables and seems to work. What does not work is Indy. There's nothing Indie about Indy. It's a place where everyone is expected to act the same and like the same stuff, like Dave Matthews, for example. Even the city's number one son, good old number 18 from Tennessee, left this dump. Peyton lives in Denver, fan boys. so you can ditch the jersey and man the hell up. He played like 100 years in Indianapolis and 4 in Denver, but he decided to stay there. So did I. Time to go fire up the pipe. Man, I love Colorado. Indianapolis? LOL.

1 -4

The Crosshairs of America

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I grew up in Indianapolis and did all the Hoosier things like root for IU and go to the 500 every May. Vacations? Mostly Orlando and Branson. Favorite spare time activity? Getting blitzed. Then I met this guy and we moved to Denver. Wow, what can I say. A real city with people who can think...even when they're stoned. Since then, I've been to Seattle and Phoenix and all sorts of really cool places that Indy will never be. I don't miss Indiana. I don't miss the crime or the idiots who think it's the center of the universe. I don't miss everything falling apart and the attitude that life sucks and it's never gonna get any better. I don't miss truck stop food and attention Wal Mart shoppers. If I miss anything, it's the rust...that and the potholes.

3 -4

Keepin' It Real

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Indy just plain sucks. It's a small town that really wants you to think it's a big city. There are about 50 urban hipster wannabees here who try to convince everyone else that the answer is MORE DENSITY which sort of makes sense because Indy is about as dense as Green Bay Wisconsin, no offense intended to the Cheeseheads. The reason that Indy is not dense is because the city has lost like half it's population over the last 50 years. Yeah, sounds great, right? So great that everyone can leave, leaves. Now they're closing MORE schools. This place is circling the drain. It's a good thing Detroit is just up the road. That keeps the attention elsewhere, but Indy is an epic fail by any reasonable measure.

4 -1

Furious with the level of drugs and white russian/asian fascism

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Not a place to live if you don't want to be reminded of the gross communists and nazis in the world. I just was refused to be taken to a hospital by EMT workers of white Asian origin ( they ALL already know about Germany ) probably drug users or part of that community making up fairy tales about the mechanics of their ambulance and then calling me the equivalent of...well no exactly what Soviet Nazis call me around the world and...it isn't a Jew ( European perhaps). And this type of sick 10th world number one in genocide, AIDS, drugs, of course no hospitals because obviously according to Silicon Valley all patients would be raped, etc, etc. Oh and no FOOD ! You are not paranoid if you think you are surrounded by Mid and West Asian Communists or Nazis or other ignoramus. I am furious because these people live in a bubble of cheap housing, breeding, drug community, the visual is of their own and that is what they want, and grandaddy is gay. Basically a mini me version of Silicon Valley.

1 -2

This town sucks

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Have been living in Indy for about 2 months and must say, despite some pretty good restaurants, this place is an abject shithole. I've never been around a population that is softer and lazier. Don't get me started on the rampant ghetto attitude. Take some fucking pride in yourselves Indy! Fucking hate this place and will leave as soon as possible. All this coming from someone who lived in Detroit. At least those people have some heart and backbone. Biggest bunch of whiny little pussies in America. Your whole state sucks, Hoosiers.

2 -5

Indy from a single, single parent, middleaged African-American femal Perspective

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currently a resident of Indianapolis near downtown. For a single parent African American female Indianapolis is a decent enough place to live the crime is in my opinion too high. there are jobs but unless you are a professional don't expect to get paid much money. most entry level jobs start off at about $11 per hour minimum wage is around $8. Club scene is kind of boring while at the same time dangerous especially if you are under 30yrs of age. housing is somewhat affordable, it has improved in decent affordable housing over the past ten years. Public transportation is not very reliable or popular so unless you live central and work in the central to downtown area you should not expect to rely on it for employment purposes it. The routes are limited and the so are the hours of operation. Favorite things about Indianapolis is Zoo and parks, Least favorite is the high crime.

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As for the food

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We on point. U wants some mc Donald's we got you. You want some gourmet stuff. We got you. We got target, Walmart, fancy big malls, ghetto ass big malls, outdoors big balls, guns, freedom, pizza, papa johns, Boston market. fro yo, we got u covered

1 -1

Indiana weather is bs

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Um I was scrolling to find other places cuz I don't wont to liv in Indiana no more and I saw Indiana has a b in weather. That's some bs right there. We deserve a ----F. This weather bi polar af

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Conformity is the Norm

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If you're the sort of person who likes to fit in and follow the crowd, Indianapolis may be a good place for you to settle. This community values conformity and groupthink to an alarming level. I found it stifling and so I left. It was a good decision. On the plus side, Indianapolis is a relatively inexpensive place to live. In fact, many people point to its low cost of living as the number one reason to move there. They're proud of it. Unfortunately, it's not as cheap as the locals would have you believe. Sure, housing is cheap but groceries, energy and healthcare are relatively expensive. Indianapolis also taxes wages in a variety of interesting ways. When you add state, local and other taxes, you'll be surprised at how much you actually pay for the privilege of working in Indianapolis.Locals are also very fond of their downtown. There was a magazine named Livability that ranked it number two in the nation or something like that, which is nice. It is also absurd, as downtown Indianapolis was ranked higher than cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver and New Orleans. These are all cities with awesome downtowns. Downtown Indianapolis is nice, but it is not in the same class as these cities.What I found most annoying about Indianapolis is the city's raging inferiority complex. It wants to be taken seriously as a major city. Why this is important to them I do not know but it is. They actually have pep rallies on days before big Colts games and everybody is expected to wear their $175 jersey to show their support for the city. I'm taking adults with real jobs. Living in Indy is like being stuck in high school. People go out and get blitzed every weekend. There are cliques. It's bizarre. If you're one of those people who needs to belong, this may be your city. If, on the other hand, you're a mature adult, you probably will end up leaving eventually. Save yourself the trouble now. Just my two cents.

2 -1

Speed Your Way to Indianapolis, IN

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There is more than corn in Indiana! Right in the center of the state is a gem of a state capital, Indianapolis. I lived in Indianapolis about 20 years ago but moved 60 miles north when I got married. Now that we are retired we have talked about moving to Indianapolis. It has so much to offer.

If sports are your interest you are certainly in the right place. Indianapolis is home to the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway. May is the month for the qualifications and race which should be on every bucket list. The museum is open year round. The former super bowl champions, the Indianapolis Colts make their home here. We also have the NBA Pacers, the Indianapolis Ice (hockey), and the Indianapolis Indians baseball team.

The performing arts are alive and well in Indianapolis. The Indiana Repertory Theatre and Indianapolis Symphony make their home downtown on the circle. There are community theatres scattered around neighborhoods in the city; The Phoenix, Theatre at Fountain Square, Madam Walker Theatre and Indianapolis Civic Theatre.

For sailors there is a wonderful club at Eagle Creek Park. A day's sailing is not complete without stopping by Rick's at the Boatyard for dinner where there is usually live jazz. There are folks who prefer speed in their boats and that can be found at Giest Reservoir where skippers can motor up dockside to a variety of restaurants.

For families nothing beats the Indianapolis Children's Museum or the Indianapolis Zoo. Other museums include the Indianapolis Art Museum and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.

Indianapolis recently opened a new airport. It is beautiful, but in my opinion, it is not conveniently located and parking is very difficult.

I miss living in Indianapolis and am seriously considering returning.

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Indianapolis Plus Ellenberger Park Equals a Family Affair

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Attractions8/10

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Every time I visit Indianapolis I have an AMAZING time! One of my favorite places to visit is Ellenberger Park. I know it sounds cliche, but it's truly fun for the entire family. With swimming, tennis, ice skating, and a huge playground; you can't go wrong. Also, depending on the time of year you visit, you can catch hockey games being played by various leagues. To top it all off, the scenery is a sight ripped straight out of a tourist magazine. Ellenberger Park is filled with streams and winding paths shaded with beautiful willowy trees.

A quip I have about Indianapolis is the lack of diversity outside of major festivities, such as the International Festival and the Black Expo Summer Celebration. Other than that, it seems to be your usual corporate business crowd. Also, I found that hotel room rates during conventions were extremely expensive. If you plan to visit, I'd suggest getting a hotel room on the outskirts of the metropolitan area without sacrificing convenience.

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Source: The Indianapolis, IN data and statistics displayed above are derived from the 2016 United States Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS).

Indianapolis, IN Livability

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