These Are The 10 Happiest Places In Indiana
We analyzed over 114 places in Indiana to determine where it’s all rainbows and sunshine.
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There’s a search that we are all on that dwarfs our job or career search — the search for happiness.
And as we all know, where we live and the job we have can all play a big part in our overall sense of contentment and happiness. For that reason, we took a dive into a the most recent census data to help you identify which places in Indiana have the biggest smile of them all.
On our happy data journey, we settled on seven criteria to help determine which Indiana places are the happiest. The criteria include things like having insurance, owning a home, and having a job.
As it turns out, life is all rainbows and butterflies in Granger, the happiest place in Indiana.
Don’t start feeling sad, there’s plenty of happy to go around as life is still pretty sweet in the following “Happiest Places in the Hoosier State”:
- Granger
- Jasper
- Zionsville
- Batesville
- Westfield
- Carmel
- Hidden Valley
- Fishers
- Avon
- Brownsburg
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There’s Nothing We’d Rather Do Than Measure Happiness In The Hoosier State
There’s a bunch of different studies out there that try to measure what makes people truly happy. And while we all know that money doesn’t buy happiness, it definitely removes anxieties and helps keep you healthy. It’s just that anything past about $70,000 a year doesn’t help as much.
So what else besides money contributes to your happiness? Well we think the following certainly do:
- Being well educated (Population with at least a bachelor’s degree)
- Having a job (As measured by the unemployment rate)
- A short commute to work (God do people hate traffic)
- Low cost of living
- Having a family (Getting, and staying married, has a ton of happiness benefits, on average)
- Owning a home (That’s a big plus)
- And the poverty rate (Money definitely helps out)
That’s a ton of fun — and happiness — for the whole family, backed by science. The data all comes from the 2010-2014 American Community Survey.
After we decided on the criteria, we gathered the data for the 114 places in Indiana with over 2,000 people.
We then ranked each place from one to 114 for each of the seven criteria with a score of one being the happiest (Any ties were given to the larger place).
Next, we averaged the seven rankings into a Happiness Index for each place with the lowest overall Index being crowned “Happiest Place In Indiana”.
Read on for more happy information about the top ten or skip to the end to see a list of how every places in Indiana ranked. Our apologies to Tell City which ranked 11th overall and just missed the list.
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1. Granger
Population: 29,400 People Who Own Their Home: 93.2%
Married Adults: 66.9%
2. Jasper
Source: Wikipedia
Population: 15,177People Who Own Their Home: 64.1%
Married Adults: 53.3%
3. Zionsville
Population: 24,559 People Who Own Their Home: 75.8%
Married Adults: 67.6%
4. Batesville
Source: Wikipedia
Population: 6,397People Who Own Their Home: 62.7%
Married Adults: 61.2%
5. Westfield
Source: Wikipedia
Population: 32,426People Who Own Their Home: 76.8%
Married Adults: 65.7%
6. Carmel
Source: Wikipedia
Population: 83,474People Who Own Their Home: 75.0%
Married Adults: 66.3%
7. Hidden Valley
Population: 5,174 People Who Own Their Home: 87.5%
Married Adults: 67.2%
8. Fishers
Source: Wikipedia
Population: 81,060People Who Own Their Home: 79.6%
Married Adults: 62.4%
9. Avon
Source: Flickr
Population: 14,570People Who Own Their Home: 75.8%
Married Adults: 55.7%
10. Brownsburg
Source: Flickr
Population: 22,618People Who Own Their Home: 72.5%
Married Adults: 60.0%
Detailed List Of Happiest Places In Indiana
| City |
Rank |
Population |
People Who Own Their Home |
Married Adults |
| Granger |
1 |
29,400 |
93.2% |
66.9% |
| Jasper |
2 |
15,177 |
64.1% |
53.3% |
| Zionsville |
3 |
24,559 |
75.8% |
67.6% |
| Batesville |
4 |
6,397 |
62.7% |
61.2% |
| Westfield |
5 |
32,426 |
76.8% |
65.7% |
| Carmel |
6 |
83,474 |
75.0% |
66.3% |
| Hidden Valley |
7 |
5,174 |
87.5% |
67.2% |
| Fishers |
8 |
81,060 |
79.6% |
62.4% |
| Avon |
9 |
14,570 |
75.8% |
55.7% |
| Brownsburg |
10 |
22,618 |
72.5% |
60.0% |
| Tell City |
11 |
7,251 |
64.0% |
52.3% |
| Dunlap |
12 |
6,557 |
78.2% |
61.4% |
| Bright |
13 |
5,079 |
80.9% |
54.3% |
| Noblesville |
14 |
56,576 |
66.8% |
59.1% |
| Dyer |
15 |
16,322 |
87.8% |
57.1% |
| Columbus |
16 |
45,522 |
57.9% |
50.1% |
| Bargersville |
17 |
6,324 |
61.5% |
68.9% |
| Munster |
18 |
23,325 |
80.3% |
53.8% |
| Boonville |
19 |
6,220 |
61.0% |
60.3% |
| Highland |
20 |
23,429 |
74.6% |
48.5% |
| Ellettsville |
21 |
6,352 |
62.7% |
47.6% |
| Lakes of the Four Seasons |
22 |
6,854 |
94.2% |
65.0% |
| New Haven |
23 |
15,612 |
72.1% |
52.6% |
| Danville |
24 |
9,258 |
68.2% |
56.3% |
| Rensselaer |
25 |
5,787 |
56.2% |
49.6% |
| Auburn |
26 |
12,972 |
68.3% |
50.9% |
| Tipton |
27 |
5,288 |
56.6% |
54.6% |
| Mount Vernon |
28 |
6,607 |
64.0% |
48.5% |
| Nappanee |
29 |
6,639 |
61.4% |
60.6% |
| Decatur |
30 |
9,511 |
62.5% |
49.4% |
| Chesterton |
31 |
13,894 |
66.7% |
53.1% |
| Mooresville |
32 |
9,459 |
61.9% |
53.5% |
| Crown Point |
33 |
28,259 |
71.9% |
52.6% |
| Plainfield |
34 |
29,220 |
67.7% |
48.8% |
| Bluffton |
35 |
9,621 |
60.9% |
49.7% |
| North Manchester |
36 |
6,080 |
55.5% |
43.8% |
| Huntingburg |
37 |
6,489 |
61.2% |
54.8% |
| Princeton |
38 |
8,600 |
55.9% |
48.4% |
| Washington |
39 |
11,758 |
57.2% |
49.8% |
| New Whiteland |
40 |
5,646 |
75.6% |
59.9% |
| Greenfield |
41 |
21,012 |
57.7% |
47.3% |
| Monticello |
42 |
5,355 |
54.4% |
47.4% |
| Wabash |
43 |
10,534 |
58.6% |
49.6% |
| Lebanon |
44 |
15,688 |
56.9% |
49.8% |
| Warsaw |
45 |
14,179 |
55.9% |
49.6% |
| Hobart |
46 |
29,136 |
68.1% |
49.4% |
| Cumberland |
47 |
5,243 |
56.9% |
55.9% |
| Lowell |
48 |
9,347 |
71.5% |
52.6% |
| Garrett |
49 |
6,213 |
62.2% |
52.0% |
| Franklin |
50 |
24,193 |
55.0% |
49.0% |
| Greenwood |
51 |
52,799 |
56.4% |
52.9% |
| Jeffersonville |
52 |
45,869 |
60.2% |
47.2% |
| Columbia City |
53 |
9,057 |
61.1% |
42.7% |
| Griffith |
54 |
16,765 |
61.7% |
47.1% |
| Portland |
55 |
6,408 |
58.1% |
46.5% |
| Cedar Lake |
56 |
11,653 |
69.7% |
51.8% |
| Greencastle |
57 |
10,307 |
46.0% |
34.3% |
| Seymour |
58 |
18,686 |
56.5% |
49.7% |
| Linton |
59 |
5,368 |
56.0% |
47.2% |
| Huntington |
60 |
17,284 |
57.7% |
44.1% |
| Portage |
61 |
37,008 |
66.8% |
47.4% |
| Greensburg |
62 |
12,160 |
54.1% |
45.7% |
| Madison |
63 |
12,033 |
50.2% |
45.6% |
| Valparaiso |
64 |
31,745 |
53.3% |
41.6% |
| Clarksville |
65 |
21,579 |
53.7% |
42.9% |
| West Lafayette |
66 |
30,843 |
28.6% |
24.8% |
| Alexandria |
67 |
5,100 |
49.2% |
49.7% |
| Rochester |
68 |
6,151 |
50.5% |
46.9% |
| Fort Wayne |
69 |
255,784 |
56.5% |
44.9% |
| Beech Grove |
70 |
14,301 |
52.0% |
44.0% |
| Angola |
71 |
8,610 |
48.5% |
39.2% |
| Goshen |
72 |
32,297 |
52.5% |
47.7% |
| Gas City |
73 |
6,093 |
62.0% |
45.6% |
| Lawrence |
74 |
46,796 |
61.1% |
46.6% |
| La Porte |
75 |
22,153 |
53.6% |
49.1% |
| Bedford |
76 |
13,384 |
53.2% |
46.3% |
| Hartford City |
77 |
6,166 |
59.4% |
51.6% |
| Charlestown |
78 |
7,802 |
55.4% |
46.6% |
| Bloomington |
79 |
81,963 |
31.0% |
23.5% |
| Kokomo |
80 |
56,958 |
54.1% |
45.2% |
| Evansville |
81 |
120,220 |
46.6% |
40.0% |
| Merrillville |
82 |
35,262 |
58.4% |
43.2% |
| Lafayette |
83 |
69,982 |
44.1% |
43.7% |
| Vincennes |
84 |
18,233 |
47.4% |
39.7% |
| Frankfort |
85 |
16,488 |
52.2% |
46.1% |
| Kendallville |
86 |
9,847 |
55.5% |
42.2% |
| Shelbyville |
87 |
19,216 |
50.2% |
42.4% |
| Peru |
88 |
11,199 |
53.4% |
42.9% |
| Crawfordsville |
89 |
15,988 |
48.8% |
43.4% |
| Marion |
90 |
29,403 |
50.1% |
35.3% |
| Plymouth |
91 |
10,048 |
54.1% |
47.3% |
| New Albany |
92 |
36,496 |
48.3% |
39.9% |
| Lawrenceburg |
93 |
5,022 |
47.7% |
36.6% |
| Westville |
94 |
6,895 |
67.0% |
20.2% |
| Martinsville |
95 |
11,756 |
51.8% |
46.7% |
| Salem |
96 |
6,264 |
55.8% |
39.7% |
| Logansport |
97 |
17,933 |
55.3% |
40.8% |
| Mishawaka |
98 |
48,120 |
43.6% |
39.7% |
| Elwood |
99 |
8,569 |
49.5% |
49.6% |
| Richmond |
100 |
36,527 |
48.6% |
41.7% |
| Terre Haute |
101 |
61,040 |
45.5% |
34.3% |
| Lake Station |
102 |
12,369 |
63.8% |
45.2% |
| Muncie |
103 |
70,035 |
43.5% |
30.8% |
| Indianapolis |
104 |
835,097 |
47.0% |
39.5% |
| Brazil |
105 |
8,022 |
52.5% |
44.3% |
| Michigan City |
106 |
31,369 |
46.6% |
36.6% |
| New Castle |
107 |
17,859 |
47.7% |
41.5% |
| Elkhart |
108 |
51,539 |
42.5% |
40.2% |
| North Vernon |
109 |
6,736 |
48.6% |
40.2% |
| Hammond |
110 |
79,585 |
53.8% |
40.0% |
| Connersville |
111 |
13,267 |
48.8% |
40.7% |
| Anderson |
112 |
55,789 |
47.4% |
39.2% |
| East Chicago |
113 |
29,387 |
32.4% |
29.7% |
| Gary |
114 |
79,165 |
37.9% |
28.4% |
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