Knox County, IN

County Profile

36,007 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Knox 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.

60out of 100
Area Score
Top 46% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity800th of 1,463 counties measured53
Schools976th of 1,377 counties measured34
Growth769th of 1,453 counties measured48
Housing affordabilityTop 16% of 1,462 counties measured82
ClimateTop 34% of 1,463 counties measured73
Physical resilienceTop 35% of 1,463 counties measured70
Access864th of 1,463 counties measured77
Economic stability947th of 1,463 counties measured49
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.5% and median household income $61,237, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 41% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.4 students for every teacher.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most counties measured: rent takes 26% of renter income and the median home is 1.8 times what its owners earn.

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
36,007
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$61,237
Bottom 39% nationally
Density
70/sq mi
515.8 sq mi of land
Median age
39.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Knox County
Indiana
Micro area
Nearest major airport
EVV
45 mi · Evansville Rgnl
Median home value
$137,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

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

Employment fell 0.1% over the past year, to 17,334 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$44,0897th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$48,43918th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,3022024 ACS 5-Year$61,237Bottom 39%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,1722024 ACS 5-Year$34,279Bottom 47%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$57,471Top 45%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year13.5%Bottom 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.3 minTop 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.1%Bottom 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year84.5%92nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202617,334Bottom 26%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.5%Bottom 43%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Top 41%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202617,95725th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year77.0%Top 43%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%64th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Top 25%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.5%Top 26%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year2.3%2nd 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 holding roughly steady, 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

202120222023202461k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $61,237 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.

41% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 47% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.4 students for every full-time teacher across 12 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
41.2%
Bottom 38% in Indiana
Reading proficiency
47.1%
Bottom 26% in Indiana
The 12 largest public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lincoln High SchoolVincennes Community School Corp70415.032%47%
South Knox Elementary SchoolSouth Knox School Corp65318.154%56%
George Rogers Clark SchoolVincennes Community School Corp62614.934%40%
South Knox Middle-High SchoolSouth Knox School Corp56216.547%52%
North Knox Jr-Sr High SchoolNorth Knox School Corp54115.532%47%
Benjamin Franklin Elementary SchVincennes Community School Corp41315.961%55%
Tecumseh-Harrison Elementary SchVincennes Community School Corp38014.132%32%
North Knox IntermediateNorth Knox School Corp37015.444%49%
Francis Vigo Elementary SchoolVincennes Community School Corp31413.142%47%
North Knox Primary SchoolNorth Knox School Corp24713.0——
James Whitcomb Riley Elem SchVincennes Community School Corp15411.032%32%
Washington Learning AcademyVincennes Community School Corp11739.0——

50.4% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Indiana is up 51% over five years, and up 5.5% 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 $933 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.68% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $956, some 20% above the $796 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $956 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,200 a year, about 62% of the median household income here of $61,237.

The typical renter household here spends 26% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $796 a month.

A median home at $137,700 costs 1.8 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $76,933, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
26.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.8×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$956
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$796
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$137,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Knox County’s median household income of $61,237, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Indiana’s figure2026 Q2+5.5%81st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Indiana’s figure2026 Q2+50.9%74th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Indiana’s figure2026 Q2+103.3%66th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.8Top 13%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year67.8%22nd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±352024 ACS 5-Year16,97459th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$729Top 10%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,212Top 13%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$956Top 15%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$452024 ACS 5-Year$796Top 34%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,7342024 ACS 5-Year$137,70025th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$832024 ACS 5-Year$93321st percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,8892024 ACS 5-Year$76,933Top 49%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year0.68%38th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.0%Top 33%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1272024 ACS 5-Year10721st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%15th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.0%57th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3342024 ACS 5-Year1,80551st 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.

Development Momentum

48/ 100
Ranks 769 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 3 years of 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 fallen 1% since 2020, to 35,872 in 2024.

Permit activity rose in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 47 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Knox 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 $44,089, below the $48,439 of households that moved out.

At 1.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
47
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.3
Bottom 24% nationally
Year over year
+68%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202436k36k
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 falling, 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
40%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$44,089
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$48,439
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Daviess County, IN 197 people · 16% of arrivals
  2. Lawrence County, IL 94 people · 7.8% of arrivals
  3. Vanderburgh County, IN 74 people · 6.2% of arrivals
  4. Gibson County, IN 68 people · 5.7% of arrivals
  5. Sullivan County, IN 61 people · 5.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Daviess County, IN 135 people · 10% of departures
  2. Lawrence County, IL 114 people · 8.7% of departures
  3. Vanderburgh County, IN 108 people · 8.3% of departures
  4. Gibson County, IN 78 people · 6.0% of departures
  5. Marion County, IN 56 people · 4.3% 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

20222023202420253930
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+30%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.7 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 38, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LAWRENCEVILLE INTL AP, 11.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year542024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals41.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
54
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
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

70 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 40% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

EarthquakeHigh
DroughtModerate
Heat waveModerate
Strong windElevated
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, lightning, landslide, tornado, ice storm, inland flooding, hail, hurricane, wildfire, 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.

Knox County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.7 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 13.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 10.0 per 100,000 residents in Knox County.

Homicide
4.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
10.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
18.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Knox 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Evansville Rgnl at 45 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.2%Top 40%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle45 miBottom 36%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 26%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.6%Top 45%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Evansville RgnlEVV45 mi8,021 ft
Terre Haute RgnlHUF53 mi9,021 ft
Owensboro/Daviess County RgnlOWB67 mi8,000 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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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
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 Knox County, IN

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.