Bartholomew County, IN

County Profile

83,536 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Bartholomew County, IN.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 33% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 29% of 1,463 counties measured65
SchoolsTop 37% of 1,377 counties measured60
Growth992nd of 1,453 counties measured40
Housing affordabilityTop 25% of 1,462 counties measured79
Climate729th of 1,463 counties measured68
Physical resilienceTop 48% of 1,463 counties measured61
Access820th of 1,463 counties measured78
Economic stabilityTop 26% of 1,463 counties measured77
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.5% and median household income $79,901, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 48% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.2 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 150 units authorized over the past twelve months, 31% below the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
83,536
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$79,901
Top 18% nationally
Density
205/sq mi
406.9 sq mi of land
Median age
37.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Bartholomew County
Indiana
Metro area
Nearest major airport
IND
41 mi · Indianapolis Intl
Median home value
$232,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.5%, lower than in 74% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.5% over the past year, to 37,931 employed residents.

34% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 84% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$59,81453rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$73,45781st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,7512024 ACS 5-Year$79,901Top 18%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,4832024 ACS 5-Year$41,608Top 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$66,993Top 22%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.2%Top 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.0 minTop 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year34.1%Top 16%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.6%36th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202637,931Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.0%Bottom 25%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.5%Top 48%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202639,31353rd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year81.4%Top 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%82nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.5%Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.5%Top 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year13.8%83rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.52.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.5% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202480k71k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $79,901 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 — Columbus, IN

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators2,980$46,950
Retail Salespersons1,500$29,840
Machinists1,470$61,230
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,440$28,290
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand1,310$38,510
Mechanical Engineers1,000$127,700

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

48% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.2 students for every full-time teacher across 18 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
19
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.2
across 18 of them
Math proficiency
48.0%
Top 28% in Indiana
Reading proficiency
52.7%
Top 38% in Indiana
The 12 largest of 19 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Columbus North High SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp2,36014.944%62%
Columbus East High SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp1,45215.140%55%
Northside Middle SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp90815.944%55%
Southside Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp89118.269%63%
Central Middle SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp79015.541%44%
Parkside Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp73316.755%58%
Clifty Creek Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp70514.742%37%
Lillian Schmitt Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp70418.140%38%
W D Richards Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp61020.348%52%
Taylorsville Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp58016.632%31%
Hope Elementary SchoolFlat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp54719.562%50%
Hauser Jr-Sr High SchoolFlat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp43512.437%41%

43.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Indiana’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 10% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 90.2, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Columbus, IN Metro Area is up 43% over five years, and up 3.6% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,738 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.75% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,415, some 26% above the $1,127 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,415 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $56,600 a year, about 71% of the median household income here of $79,901.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,127 a month.

A median home at $232,800 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $94,093, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
90.2

Prices here run about 10% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Columbus, IN Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,415
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,127
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$232,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Bartholomew County’s median household income of $79,901, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Columbus, IN Metro Area’s figure202390.2Top 22%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Columbus, IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.6%53rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Columbus, IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+42.9%40th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Columbus, IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+91.4%46th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.5Top 48%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year69.3%27th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±722024 ACS 5-Year35,66877th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,257Bottom 24%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,697Bottom 37%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,415Bottom 28%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$392024 ACS 5-Year$1,127Bottom 21%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,7922024 ACS 5-Year$232,80067th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$622024 ACS 5-Year$1,73856th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,7712024 ACS 5-Year$94,093Top 19%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.75%45th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.1%Top 43%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2002024 ACS 5-Year40353rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%28th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.3%19th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4012024 ACS 5-Year2,30959th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

40/ 100
Ranks 992 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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 grown 3% since 2020, reaching 84,741 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 185 units authorized in 2025, 5% below the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 84,741 residents in 2024, up 0.6% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 150 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Bartholomew County lost about 0.4% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $59,814, below the $73,457 of households that moved out.

At 1.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
150
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.8
Bottom 33% nationally
Year over year
−31%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202485k82k
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. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
37%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$59,814
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$73,457
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Johnson County, IN 434 people · 11% of arrivals
  2. Jackson County, IN 359 people · 9.5% of arrivals
  3. Jennings County, IN 287 people · 7.6% of arrivals
  4. Marion County, IN 258 people · 6.8% of arrivals
  5. Brown County, IN 172 people · 4.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Johnson County, IN 484 people · 12% of departures
  2. Marion County, IN 373 people · 9.1% of departures
  3. Jackson County, IN 306 people · 7.5% of departures
  4. Jennings County, IN 296 people · 7.2% of departures
  5. Decatur County, IN 157 people · 3.8% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025209156
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−11%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 22°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.1 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 44, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 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 SHELBYVILLE MUNI AP, 26.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year582024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals22°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year442024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
44
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
58
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
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. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

61 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 61% of it.

TornadoHigh
EarthquakeHigh
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate
Cold waveModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, winter weather, hail, ice storm, strong wind, drought, wildfire, hurricane, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Bartholomew County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.9 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 12.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 21.4 per 100,000 residents in Bartholomew County.

Homicide
2.9
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
21.4
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
21.4
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Bartholomew County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Indianapolis Intl at 41 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year92.9%Top 9%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle41 miBottom 42%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Top 43%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year4.9%Top 10%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Indianapolis IntlIND41 mi11,200 ft
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG67 mi10,000 ft
Louisville Muhammad Ali IntlSDF72 mi11,887 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
64
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Bartholomew County, IN