Find a Job You Really Want In
We’re on a mission at Zippia to criss-cross the country looking for the best and worst places for jobs.
Today, we set our sites on the worst cities to find a job in Indiana after looking at the best places in Indiana a short while ago.
These cities did not have the grit needed to make it to the big leagues and get that big promotion we all hope to get.
After looking at the data for the 78 biggest cities in Indiana, the ten worst cities to find a job in Indiana are:
- Wabash
- Peru
- Marion
- Connersville
- Gary
- Muncie
- East Chicago
- Michigan City
- Crawfordsville
- Bedford
Read on to see how we did it.
For more IN reading, check out:
How We Determined The Worst Places For Jobs In The Hoosier State
After getting the data for all 1,500 places in Indiana, we ultimately decided to limit our analysis to any place with over 10,000 people that isn’t a township.
That left us with 78 cities.
We then ranked each place across a number of criteria from one to 78, with 1 being the worst in any given category.
Finally, we took the average rank across all criteria, with the place posting the lowest overall score gaining the title “Worst City In Indiana To Find A Job”.
The criteria we looked at were:
Population: 10,644
Unemployment Rate: 5.10%
Median Household Income: $33,901
Wabash takes the dubious distinction of being the worst city in Indiana to get a job.
While the city’s unemployment ranks in the top 50% of all cities in Indiana, it comes in dead last for recent job growth, future job growth, and income taxes.
So even though you may have a job in Wabash, you might not have one for long and the local government takes more money from you than any other city in the Hoosier state.
2. Peru
Population: 11,475
Unemployment Rate: 7.00%
Median Household Income: $32,888
Peru places second on our list of the worst cities in Indiana to find a job.
Peru only finished in one category as one of the the ten worst, income taxes (3rd worst), but managed stay below average in every other category.
So while Peru in South America may be a destination spot for some, Peru, Indiana should not be a prime destination for job seekers.
3. Marion
Population: 30,088
Unemployment Rate: 8.10%
Median Household Income: $30,665
Marion is the county seat of Grant County and, as it so happens, takes a seat on our list of the worst places to get a job in Indiana.
Marion earned its seat here like most places we’ve seen previously — of a high unemployment rate (5th worst) and low household median income (8th worst).
4. Connersville
Population: 13,479
Unemployment Rate: 7.60%
Median Household Income: $29,939
Connersville takes the fourth spot on our list of the worst places for jobs in Indiana.
The 9th worst unemployment rate for cities in Indiana and 5th lowest median household income contributed to the city finishing here.
However, the city has actually had relatively strong recent job growth finishing in the top 50% of all cities despite those two facts mentioned previously.
5. Gary
Population: 81,153
Unemployment Rate: 10.50%
Median Household Income: $26,956
Being the largest city on our list, Gary still couldn’t bully its way out of the worst places to find a job in Indiana, finishing in fifth.
The combination of low unemployment (3rd worst) and low median income (2nd worst) meant that Gary couldn’t keep up with the rest of the cities in the Hoosier state.
Maybe if Indiana had only given the city a more interesting name it could attract more jobs.
6. Muncie
Population: 70,033
Unemployment Rate: 6.40%
Median Household Income: $30,366
While Muncie is the second biggest city on this list, it was fortunate enough to only place sixth on our list of the worst places to get a job in Indiana.
Bottom 10 finishes in recent job growth and future job growth (7th worst) combined with the 6th lowest household median income pushed Muncie into this position.
At least the city doesn’t tax your relatively low income that heavily.
7. East Chicago
Population: 29,789
Unemployment Rate: 10.80%
Median Household Income: $27,171
Coming in seventh our list is East Chicago.
Following a similar pattern to several others in our analysis, we couldn’t promote East Chicago because of a high unemployment rate (2nd worst) and low median income (4th lowest).
It seems as if places named after other states and cities in other states might not have been the best idea…
8. Michigan City
Population: 31,442
Unemployment Rate: 10.90%
Median Household Income: $36,115
Michigan City places eighth in our ranking of the worst places for jobs in Indiana.
Michigan City took the title as the city with the worst overall unemployment rate in Indiana. It also fared poorly when it came to recent job growth and prospects for future growth.
So it seems as if maybe Indiana should consider handing Michigan City over to Michigan, at least when it comes to jobs.
9. Crawfordsville
Population: 15,958
Unemployment Rate: 5.10%
Median Household Income: $36,845
Crawfordsville sneaks onto the worst places to get a job list at number nine.
Slow recent job growth to go with high income taxes netted out to Crawfordsville place on this list.
10. Bedford
Population: 13,436
Unemployment Rate: 7.20%
Median Household Income: $34,024
And rounding out our top ten worst cities in Indiana to get a job, we have Bedford.
Bedford took a nap when it comes to income taxes finishing 11th worst in that category, but managed to stay out of the top ten worst for every category.
Looks like it’s bedtime for this analysis.
Wrapping It Up Friday Night Drinks
After crunching all the numbers, Wabash took the “top” spot as the worst city in Indiana for a job.
So while the economy continues to improve and jobs become available across the state of Indiana, these cities lag behind.
Hopefully they can catch up before they miss their next bonus.
Detailed Ranking
Skip to end of table.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
