Beech Grove, Indiana

Area Profile

14,913 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Beech Grove, in Marion County.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 28% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 46% of 3,904 cities measured58
Schools2551st of 2,668 cities measured14
Growth2693rd of 2,973 cities measured22
Housing affordability2570th of 4,223 cities measured74
Climate2580th of 4,223 cities measured67
Physical resilienceTop 41% of 4,182 cities measured67
AccessTop 21% of 4,226 cities measured98
Economic stabilityTop 49% of 4,226 cities measured61
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.7% and median household income $49,973, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

In the public schools here, 19% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.9 students for every teacher.

A major airport is 11 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
14,913
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$49,973
Bottom 23% nationally
Density
3,337/sq mi
4.5 sq mi of land
Median age
36.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Marion County
Indiana
Metro area
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
Nearest major airport
IND
11 mi · Indianapolis Intl
Median home value
$182,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7% is lower than 74% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.7% over the past year, to 503,204 employed residents.

Median household income of $49,973 is below 77% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$4,739$49,973Bottom 23%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,488$30,170Bottom 37%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.1%Top 49%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.9 minBottom 30%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher23.9%Top 42%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment503,204Top 13%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.4%Top 18%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.7%Top 50%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force522,267Top 13%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation66.4%Top 29%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$65,180Bottom 32%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$49,340Bottom 35%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 30%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate3.7%Bottom 26%of 3,904June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202451k45k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $49,973 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand48,100$44,180
Retail Salespersons28,840$31,530
Fast Food and Counter Workers28,400$29,040
Registered Nurses25,800$84,230
Stockers and Order Fillers25,630$37,120
Home Health and Personal Care Aides20,590$35,060

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Marion County, IN, which contains this city.

19% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 26% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.9 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.9
across all schools here
Math proficiency
18.9%
Bottom 6% in Indiana
Reading proficiency
26.3%
Bottom 11% in Indiana
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Beech Grove Sr High SchoolBeech Grove City Schools91417.2
South Grove Elementary SchoolBeech Grove City Schools58618.922%32%
Hornet Park Elementary SchoolBeech Grove City Schools46119.2
Beech Grove Middle SchoolBeech Grove City Schools44015.212%27%
Central Elementary SchoolBeech Grove City Schools38913.922%17%

51.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Indiana’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,091 takes 26% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.7 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
26.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,091
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$182,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income3.65Top 33%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate56.2%Bottom 15%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7707,263Top 8%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$38$1,091Top 40%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,441$182,600Bottom 49%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income26.2%Top 13%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.4%Bottom 35%of 32,0012024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
22/ 100
Ranks 2693 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is broadly steady, measured from 2020 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, reaching 14,566 in 2024.

At 0.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
0
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.0
Bottom 1% nationally
Year over year
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202415k15k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
202020212022202320242025140.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 21°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.6 inches, including 25.5 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 54, in the Moderate band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station INDIANAPOLIS, 10.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index74.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation43.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall25.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low21°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10042024 calendar year
Median air quality index54.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing47°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
54
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
74
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

67 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and earthquake.

TornadoModerate
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeElevated

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, cold wave, heat wave, lightning, winter weather, hail, ice storm, landslide, drought, hurricane, wildfire.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Marion County records 14.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 21.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 33.9 per 100,000 residents in Marion County.

Homicide
14.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
21.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
33.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
12.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Marion County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Beech Grove rather than Beech Grove itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 11 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Indianapolis IntlIND11 mi11,200 ft
Terre Haute RgnlHUF67 mi9,021 ft
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG89 mi10,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
54
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Other cities in Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
IndianapolisMarion County885,860vs Beech Grove
FishersHamilton County102,33778vs Beech Grove
CarmelHamilton County101,65181vs Beech Grove
NoblesvilleHamilton County73,36280vs Beech Grove
GreenwoodJohnson County66,02974vs Beech Grove
AndersonMadison County55,36757vs Beech Grove
WestfieldHamilton County54,67782vs Beech Grove
LawrenceMarion County49,51763vs Beech Grove
PlainfieldHendricks County36,36975vs Beech Grove
ZionsvilleBoone County32,09584vs Beech Grove
BrownsburgHendricks County31,21583vs Beech Grove
FranklinJohnson County26,16872vs Beech Grove

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Beech Grove

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
4610713,020$56,79958