Michigan City, Indiana

Area Profile

31,814 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Michigan City, in LaPorte County.

62out of 100
Area Score
Top 45% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 50% of 3,904 cities measured56
Schools2078th of 2,668 cities measured30
Growth2058th of 2,973 cities measured39
Housing affordabilityTop 29% of 4,223 cities measured91
Climate3314th of 4,223 cities measured62
Physical resilienceTop 10% of 4,182 cities measured91
Access2842nd of 4,226 cities measured86
Economic stability3990th of 4,226 cities measured29
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.1% and median household income $53,089, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

In the public schools here, 27% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.8 students for every teacher.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Michigan City in the top 10% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
31,814
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$53,089
Bottom 28% nationally
Density
1,542/sq mi
20.6 sq mi of land
Median age
38.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
LaPorte County
Indiana
Metro area
Michigan City-La Porte, IN
Nearest major airport
SBN
28 mi · South Bend Intl
Median home value
$143,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 59% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 13,417 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$4,337$53,089Bottom 28%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,154$29,810Bottom 36%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate19.7%Top 24%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.8 minBottom 29%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher20.3%Top 50%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment13,417Bottom 10%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.1%Top 33%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.4%Top 22%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force13,991Bottom 10%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation53.7%Bottom 30%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$54,410Bottom 4%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,540Bottom 7%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.7%Bottom 11%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 41%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/067.83.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.1% in June 2026. 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
202120222023202453k47k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $53,089 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 — Michigan City-La Porte, IN
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,520$28,250
Retail Salespersons1,460$29,840
Cashiers1,040$28,520
Home Health and Personal Care Aides930$35,170
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand870$37,820
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators850$41,060

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.

27% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 29% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.8 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
13
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.8
across all schools here
Math proficiency
27.0%
Bottom 20% in Indiana
Reading proficiency
28.8%
Bottom 17% in Indiana
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Michigan City High SchoolMichigan City Area Schools1,50616.0
Joy Elementary SchoolMichigan City Area Schools41614.325%25%
Knapp Elementary SchoolMichigan City Area Schools40715.738%45%
Pine Elementary SchoolMichigan City Area Schools39612.825%25%
Barker Middle SchoolMichigan City Area Schools39011.822%27%
Edgewood Elementary SchoolMichigan City Area Schools35015.928%28%
Lake Hills Elementary SchoolMichigan City Area Schools34514.412%17%
Martin T Krueger Middle SchoolMichigan City Area Schools32411.212%12%
Springfield Elementary SchoolMichigan City Area Schools31216.435%35%
Marsh Elementary SchoolMichigan City Area Schools29613.531%35%
Coolspring Elementary SchoolMichigan City Area Schools24913.848%45%
A K Smith Area Career CenterMichigan City Area Schools10.1

68.9% 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 →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 8% below the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $967 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.7 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
92.0

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
21.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$967
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$143,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index92.0Bottom 13%of 3,6582023
Home price to income2.70Bottom 43%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate58.8%Bottom 19%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±45615,312Top 4%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$34$967Bottom 49%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,709$143,100Bottom 35%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.9%Top 30%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate15.0%Top 34%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
39/ 100
Ranks 2058 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, 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 2% since 2020, reaching 31,466 in 2024.

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

At 0.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
28
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.9
Bottom 28% nationally
Year over year
−7%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202432k31k
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
2020202120222023202420253625
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+7%).

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 41, in the Good band, and about 2 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, 19.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index64.02024 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 10022024 calendar year
Median air quality index41.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing48°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
41
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
64
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
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

91 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, strong wind and hail.

TornadoModerate
HailModerate
Strong windModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, inland flooding, lightning, landslide, ice storm, wildfire, 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. 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.

Violent crime
201
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,363
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offences, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Michigan City's police department reported 201 violent offences per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,363.

LaPorte County records 9.8 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 26.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 22.4 per 100,000 residents in LaPorte County.

Homicide
9.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
26.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
22.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
27.8
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.

Offences are reported to the FBI by Michigan City’s own police department, for the population it serves, and are shown only where it reported every month of the year — a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police, which is not the same as what happened, and a place that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate. Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for LaPorte 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 Michigan City rather than Michigan City 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.

Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. 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 28 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
South Bend IntlSBN28 mi8,412 ft
Gary/Chicago IntlGYY29 mi8,859 ft
Chicago O'Hare IntlORD57 mi11,245 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
62
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in Michigan City-La Porte, IN

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
La PorteLaPorte County22,44970vs Michigan City

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
safetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar yearAnnually, with monthly revisions
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)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
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)
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)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
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 Michigan City

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
4636043,817$59,26664