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Place dossier plate
SheetIN-DECATUR-IN · Decatur, IN 9,769 pop · income 33rd pct · 7 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Decatur
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Decatur on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Greencastle · lowest
54,217
Greencastle · lowest
54,217 median HH income
42.7% of the leader · rank #1
Kennedy · near
58,859
Kennedy · near
58,859 median HH income
46.4% of the leader · rank #2
Cochranton · near
58,864
Cochranton · near
58,864 median HH income
46.4% of the leader · rank #3
Decatur · this city
58,867
Decatur · this city
58,867 median HH income
46.4% of the leader · rank #4
Lemon Cove · near
58,869
Lemon Cove · near
58,869 median HH income
46.4% of the leader · rank #5
Paradise · near
58,874
Paradise · near
58,874 median HH income
46.4% of the leader · rank #6
Frankfort Squ… · highest
126,953
Frankfort Squ… · highest
126,953 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Decatur on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 9,769.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Decatur - the verdict
Decatur ranks in the 33rd percentile for household income and the 70th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
33rd
percentile, household income
22nd
percentile, home value
27th
percentile, median rent
70th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Decatur, IN
Indiana's Decatur is a small town, with 9,769 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Decatur brings in $58,867 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.9%. Decatur's housing stock carries a median value of $132,900, and the median resident age is 43.6 years. About 12.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 55.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 21 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Stable), up 0% from five years earlier. Decatur reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 845.5 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Decatur's yearly average temperature at 50.7°F with 40.6 inches of precipitation per year and 28.1 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Indiana run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Indiana at 93.3 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,096 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Indiana run around $235, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 45.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Decatur's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from climate and hazard context to work and mobility to schools and households to reported crime to population change to comparison shortlist to within-city variation to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Decatur, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What physical conditions frame life in Decatur?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 50.7°F, with 40.6 inches of precipitation and 28.1 inches of annual snowfall. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Indiana is 45.5 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
What does the journey to work look like in Decatur?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 87.1%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Decatur?
Within Indiana, the closest population matches are McCordsville (9,700 residents, $113,495 income); Greencastle (9,863 residents, $54,217 income); Mooresville (9,608 residents, $70,228 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Sedona, AZ (9,770 residents); Hamburg, NY (9,762 residents); Frankfort Square, IL (9,777 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Decatur?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 12.7% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
3
Bachelor's degree+
12.7%
Poverty estimate
5.9%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Decatur?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 845.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 63% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
676.4
Violent rate
169.1
Total reported rate
845.5
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +161 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 21 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+1.6%
2025 estimate
10,090
2020 estimate
9,929
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Decatur?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
Household income
$58,867
Home value
$132,900
Value / income
2.3×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 5.9% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Indiana average
D
City profile score · Decatur, IN
48/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living B
93.3 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate C+
5.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime C-
169 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$58,867
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
12.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Decatur profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 72/100 (B) · 93.3 index
Poverty rate: 60/100 (C+) · 5.9%
Violent crime: 54/100 (C-) · 169 /100k
Household income: 33/100 (F) · $58,867
Bachelor's+ share: 14/100 (F) · 12.7%
Where Decatur sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Decatur's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Decatur highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Decatur, IN (this city): home $132,900, crime 846/100k
Sedona, AZ : home $708,400, crime 1,612/100k
Mahomet, IL : home $293,200, crime 437/100k
Eagle Point, OR : home $393,400, crime 1,773/100k
McCordsville, IN : home $327,900, crime 1,032/100k
Columbia City, IN : home $184,300, crime 992/100k
Kendallville, IN : home $130,600, crime 909/100k
Angola, IN : home $186,900, crime 2,350/100k
How does Decatur compare to other US cities?
Where Decatur sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income33% higher than other cities
Home value22% pricier than other cities
Median rent27% pricier than other cities
Safety70% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Indiana and the picture shifts: Decatur ranks #43 of 110 Indiana cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Decatur against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Indiana only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Indiana-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Decatur near the bottom of Indiana's cities
Among the 850 Indiana cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Decatur ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Decatur only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#452 of 766
41st percentile in Indiana
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 850
0th percentile in Indiana
Median Home Value
#390 of 771
49th percentile in Indiana
Poverty Rate
#462 of 849
45th percentile in Indiana
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#497 of 850
41st percentile in Indiana
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Indiana only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
33rd percentile nationally for median household income · 70th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Decatur's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Decatur's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Decatur's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$132,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 78% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Decatur's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,753 of 15,516
More affordable than 82% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,557 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.3×, Decatur sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,753 of 15,516 and #2,557 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$58,867Decatur, IN median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Decatur, IN median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Decatur, IN.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)12.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)55.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
9,769
Median Income
$58,867
Median Home Value
$132,900
Median Age
43.6
Poverty Rate
5.9%
Labor force participation
55.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.7%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
845.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
169.1
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
676.4
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Climate
Avg Temperature
50.7°F
Annual Precipitation
40.6"
Annual Snowfall
28.1"
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Decatur's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
9,929 residents
2021
9,972 residents
2022
10,015 residents
2023
10,075 residents
2024
10,079 residents
2025
10,090 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Stable
Total Permits (2024)
21
housing units authorized
Single-Family
17
detached homes
Multifamily
4
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.1
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
21
21
0
$4.6M
2020
31
29
2
$7.2M
2021
28
28
0
$7.0M
2022
25
23
2
$6.2M
2023
22
20
2
$6.6M
2024
21
17
4
$5.6M
Permit volume increased 0% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
87.1%
Carpool
6.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.2%
Work from Home
2.4%
Based on 4,413 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Indiana statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $235
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Indiana at $235 (electricity about $110 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Indiana statewide averages, not a meter reading for Decatur. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Indiana's BEA cost-of-living index is 93.3 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Decatur is $1,096/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Indiana statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 45.5 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Indiana statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Decatur sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Decatur compares to similar-size Indiana cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.