Muncie, IN

Metro Area Profile

112,280 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Muncie, IN metropolitan area.

62out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 43% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity236th of 379 published metros50
Growth645th of 821 published metros31
Housing affordabilityTop 35% of 822 published metros98
ClimateTop 48% of 822 published metros68
Physical resilienceTop 20% of 822 published metros76
Access573rd of 822 published metros66
Economic stability573rd of 822 published metros37
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $58,127, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published metro profiles.

Residential permitting has slowed: 96 units authorized over the past twelve months, 71% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published metro profiles, placing Muncie in the top 20% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
112,280
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,127
Bottom 22% nationally
Density
286/sq mi
392.1 sq mi of land
Median age
35.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Muncie, IN
Nearest major airport
IND
59 mi · Indianapolis Intl
Median home value
$139,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% is lower than 49% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 50,521 employed residents.

Median household income of $58,127 is below 78% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,683$58,127Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,096$31,091Bottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate19.6%Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.8 minBottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.2%Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment50,521Bottom 12%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)2.3%Top 22%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.6%Top 45%June 2026
Labor force52,730Bottom 12%June 2026
Labor force participation60.1%Bottom 49%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$54,230Bottom 14%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$44,110Bottom 14%2025 OEWS
Metro employment44,740Bottom 11%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 29%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.2%Top 49%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.22.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% 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.
Largest occupations — Muncie, IN
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,120$27,560
Retail Salespersons1,710$31,060
Cashiers1,310$28,660
Registered Nurses1,220$79,500
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners970$37,900
Home Health and Personal Care Aides930$35,350

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $906 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.4 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
18.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$906
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$139,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.40Bottom 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate66.5%Bottom 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±10651,635Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$26$906Bottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,929$139,400Bottom 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.7%Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.4%Bottom 43%2024 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
31/ 100
Ranks 645 of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2024 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 grown 1% since 2020, reaching 112,951 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 metros.

Units permitted
96
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.9
Bottom 15% nationally
Year over year
−71%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024113k112k
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.

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 21°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 40.3 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MUNCIE DELAWARE CO AP, 0.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation40.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low21°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing47°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

Physical risk

76 / 100
Physical resilience

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

TornadoModerate
HailModerate
EarthquakeElevated
LightningModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

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
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. 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.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 59 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Indianapolis IntlIND59 mi11,200 ft
James M Cox Dayton IntlDAY66 mi8,502 ft
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG90 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
62
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Compare

Put Muncie side by side with a similar place.

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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)

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.