46342Hobart, Indiana

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 46342.

69out of 100
Area Score
Top 20% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 41% of 6,210 ZIP areas measured59
Schools2965th of 4,422 ZIP areas measured38
GrowthTop 17% of 5,428 ZIP areas measured69
Housing affordabilityTop 9% of 6,685 ZIP areas measured100
Climate5292nd of 6,789 ZIP areas measured62
Physical resilienceTop 17% of 6,709 ZIP areas measured84
AccessTop 34% of 6,791 ZIP areas measured96
Economic stability3989th of 6,742 ZIP areas measured55
The quick read

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 137 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 185% on the prior year.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 18% of median household income and the median home is 2.8 times it.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 46342 in the top 17% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
32,224
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,521
Top 44% nationally
Density
920/sq mi
35.0 sq mi of land
Median age
39.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Hobart
Indiana
Metro area
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
Nearest major airport
GYY
11 mi · Gary/Chicago Intl
Median home value
$213,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% is lower than 48% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 0.3% over the past year, to 14,914 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$7,872$75,521Top 44%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,437$36,214Bottom 49%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.2%Top 47%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute28.2 minTop 47%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher20.5%Bottom 42%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment14,914Bottom 10%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.5%Top 20%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.3%Top 25%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force15,614Bottom 10%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation61.3%Top 48%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$73,380Top 30%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$54,720Top 33%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.5%Bottom 18%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate4.5%Top 48%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202476k64k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $75,521 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 — Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand157,920$40,550
General and Operations Managers122,930$109,390
Home Health and Personal Care Aides108,520$38,180
Registered Nurses100,240$100,490
Cashiers99,240$35,010
Fast Food and Counter Workers97,280$34,630

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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Hobart, IN, the city containing this ZIP code.

27% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 39% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 19.0 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
19.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
27.0%
Bottom 33% in Indiana
Reading proficiency
39.3%
Top 45% in Indiana
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Hobart High SchoolSchool City of Hobart1,32020.3
Hobart Middle SchoolSchool City of Hobart90518.522%47%
Veterans Elementary School at MundellSchool City of Hobart59419.832%35%
River Forest High SchoolRiver Forest Community Sch Corp56520.2
Joan Martin Elementary SchoolSchool City of Hobart49720.743%42%
Liberty Elementary SchoolSchool City of Hobart39819.042%44%
John I Meister Elementary SchoolRiver Forest Community Sch Corp37317.018%31%
River Forest Middle SchoolRiver Forest Community Sch Corp36914.83%27%
Early Learning Center-George EarleSchool City of Hobart26418.9

58.7% 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 $1,132 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.8 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
18.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,132
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$213,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income2.82Bottom 41%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate74.1%Bottom 38%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±64513,931Top 10%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$77$1,132Top 40%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,981$213,000Bottom 48%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.0%Top 48%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.3%Bottom 29%of 33,0282024 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
69/ 100
Top 17% of 5,428 published city profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 4.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
137
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.6
Top 33% nationally
Year over year
+185%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Hobart, IN, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

5 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 18°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 52, in the Moderate band, and about 5 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 VALPARAISO PORTER CO MUNI AP, 13.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index71.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation33.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low18°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10052024 calendar year
Median air quality index52.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing48°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
52
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
90th percentile index
Days above 100
5
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

84 / 100
Physical resilience

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

TornadoModerate
Heat waveModerate
EarthquakeModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. 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.

Lake County records 7.8 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 15.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 22.6 per 100,000 residents in Lake County.

Homicide
7.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
22.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
15.2
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 Lake 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 46342 rather than 46342 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

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

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Gary/Chicago IntlGYY11 mi8,859 ft
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD47 mi11,245 ft
South Bend IntlSBN50 mi8,412 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
69
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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.

46342 vs Hobart

How this ZIP area compares with Hobart as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

46342
Hobart
Median household income
$75,521
vs
$75,160
Per capita income
$36,214
vs
$36,514
Population density
920/sq mi
vs
1,128/sq mi
Median home value
$213,000
vs
$215,200
Median gross rent
$1,132
vs
$1,206
Homeownership rate
74.1%
vs
69.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher
20.5%
vs
21.2%
Poverty rate
11.2%
vs
10.0%
Median age
39.4
vs
39.5

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.