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The 10 Worst Indianapolis Suburbs For 2023

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The suburbs of Indianapolis call to all types of people looking to escape city live. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Indianapolis to avoid all the hustle and bustle.

So the question arises, do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?

Today, we’ll use science and data to determine which Indianapolis ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Indianapolis area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the suburbs to live up to Indianapolis proper, although Carmel certainly tries.

Of course, not all suburbs of Indianapolis are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones..

We examined the 33 biggest suburbs of Indianapolis to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t necessarily find them on the worst places to live in Indiana lists, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Indianapolis in terms of quality of life.

Here are the 10 worst suburbs around Indianapolis for 2023:

  1. Morgantown
  2. Sheridan
  3. Beech Grove
  4. Shelbyville
  5. Ingalls
  6. Speedway
  7. Lebanon
  8. Martinsville
  9. Lawrence
  10. Brooklyn

What’s the worst suburb of Indianapolis? Morgantown ranks as the worst suburb of Indianapolis for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data.

Read on to see how we determined the places around Indianapolis that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger.

Or, if you’re thinking of moving to elsewhere in Indiana check out the best places in Indiana overall or the worst.

And remember, there are some good places to live around Indianapolis too.



For more Indiana reading, check out:

The 10 Worst Indianapolis Suburbs To Live For 2023

1. Morgantown

Overall SnackAbility
4
/10

Population: 2,761
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $26,386 (lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 10.0% (highest)
Median Home Value: $92,300 (lowest)
More on Morgantown:

We’ll get the ball rolling with Morgantown, the absolute worst place to live around Indianapolis according to the data.

And in the world of worst rankings, Morgantown beat the competition pretty handily thanks to scoring in the bottom 15% in three major categories. Income is the worst in the Indianapolis area, and to make matters worse, the city ranks worst when it comes to home values.

But hey, at least it’s cheap to live there. But there’s a reason for that… it’s Morgantown.

You won’t feel bad about not having a great income for the area, there aren’t a bunch of places to spend your money anyway.

Sheridan, IN

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
4
/10

Population: 3,486
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $54,049 (5th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 7.8% (4th highest)
Median Home Value: $146,800 (11th lowest)
More on Sheridan:  Data | Photos

Welcome to Sheridan. Home to KMart, Big Lots, and a lot of gas stations.

This city is 24.7 miles to Indianapolis. Income levels here are the 5th lowest in the metro area, where families bring in about $54,049 a year, which doesn’t go a long ways even on a shoestring budget.

But on the bright side, there are a lot of fast food joints in the area.

Beech Grove, IN

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 15,202
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 1)
Median Income: $45,345 (2nd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.4% (5th highest)
Median Home Value: $117,100 (5th lowest)
More on Beech Grove:  Data | Photos

Back up the highway we go for the third worst Indianapolis suburb you can live in. You might have expected to see Beech Grove on here. While the cost of living is low, your entertainment and work options are limited. And that’s an understatement.

In terms of numbers, it’s in the worst 15% for insurance, and the adult high school drop out rate is poor compared to other Indianapolis suburbs.

But at least there are nice parks to bring the kids during the day.

Shelbyville, IN

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 19,710
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 1)
Median Income: $55,950 (6th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 3.3% (20th highest)
Median Home Value: $104,100 (2nd lowest)
More on Shelbyville:  Data | Photos

If you live in Shelbyville, most likely you struggle to make ends meet every month. It ranks as the 6th lowest Indianapolis suburb when it comes to residents making money.

Not only that, but this is the 20th worst unemployed suburb you can live in if you choose to live near Indianapolis. Remember, we looked at 33 cities for this study.

Shelbyville is about 25.9 miles to downtown.

Overall SnackAbility
4
/10

Population: 2,353
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 5)
Median Income: $56,797 (7th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 6.3% (6th highest)
Median Home Value: $113,300 (4th lowest)
More on Ingalls:  Data

Ingalls has the distinction of being a Indianapolis suburb. Which means that’s about all it has going for it.

All snarkiness aside, Ingalls has the 4th lowest home values in the metro Indianapolis area, where the median price is $113,300. To put that into perspective, in Carmel, the median income is $141,546, which is the best in the area.

Ingalls has an unemployment rate of 6.33% which ranks 6th worst.

Speedway, IN

Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 13,613
Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Median Income: $49,044 (3rd lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.0% (15th highest)
Median Home Value: $142,800 (9th lowest)
More on Speedway:  Data | Photos

Speedway has 13,613 residents that probably know it’s a pretty crummy place to live when you look at the data. (Or, if you’ve ever been there, you don’t need to look at the data.)

Incomes are towards the bottom and the poverty rate sits at 13.666838576585867%.

Lebanon, IN

Overall SnackAbility
6
/10

Population: 17,196
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 3)
Median Income: $58,412 (8th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 2.6% (24th highest)
Median Home Value: $145,100 (10th lowest)
More on Lebanon:  Data | Photos

Ah, Lebanon. You rank as the 7th worst place to live around Indianapolis.

It’s the place with the 24th most out of work residents in the Indianapolis metro area (2.65%).

Martinsville, IN

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility
4
/10

Population: 11,848
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 2)
Median Income: $52,599 (4th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 4.7% (11th highest)
Median Home Value: $119,100 (6th lowest)
More on Martinsville:  Data | Photos

Martinsville is a city about 28.5 miles from Indianapolis, but Indianapolis probably wishes it was further away. It ranks as the 8th worst burb for 2018.

You’d be hard pressed to find a worse place to live. Martinsville has the 18th most uninsured people, 4th worst incomes, and has the 11th highest unemployment rate (4.72%) in the entire Indianapolis metro area.

Homes only cost $119,100 for a reason. That’s cheap for Indianapolis standards.

Lawrence, IN

Overall SnackAbility
7
/10

Population: 49,048
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 1)
Median Income: $64,392 (11th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 5.5% (8th highest)
Median Home Value: $164,200 (16th lowest)
More on Lawrence:  Data | Photos

If you absolutely have to live near Indianapolis, then Lawrence might be a place for you to consider as it’s only the 9th worst Indianapolis suburb.

About 5.54% of residents are out of work.

Overall SnackAbility
5
/10

Population: 2,490
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 2)
Median Income: $64,750 (12th lowest)
Unemployment Rate: 0.8% (32nd highest)
Median Home Value: $111,500 (3rd lowest)
More on Brooklyn:  Data

Rounding out the ten worst Indianapolis suburbs to call home is Brooklyn.

Located 20.0 miles outside the city, Brooklyns is a real pit when you look at the data. Its residents have the 32nd highest unemployment rate (0.77%), and poverty is far above the area average.

Methodology: Determining The Worst Suburbs Around Indianapolis for 2023

To figure out how bad a Indianapolis suburb is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what suburbs have the least amount of those things.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the most recent American Community Survey data from 2017-2021, this is the criteria we used:

  • High unemployment rate
  • Low median household incomes
  • Low population density (no things to do)
  • Low home values
  • A lot of high school drop outs
  • High poverty
  • High rate of uninsured families

FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Indianapolis.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 33 suburbs to evaluate around Indianapolis.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 33 in each category, where 1 was the “worst”.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the worst quality of life index the “Worst Suburb near Indianapolis.” We’re lookin’ at you, Morgantown.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the worst of the worst. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from worst to best.

Editor’s Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out we updated this article for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the worst suburbs around Indianapolis.

Summary: The areas around Indianapolis where the dream is more of a nightmare for 2023

Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Indianapolis with Morgantown casting itself ahead of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Indianapolis aren’t all bad. Carmel takes the cake as the best place to live around Indianapolis.

  • Carmel
  • Westfield
  • Pittsboro

For more Indiana reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Worst Indianapolis Suburbs

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Values
1 Morgantown 2,761 $26,386 $92,300
2 Sheridan 3,486 $54,049 $146,800
3 Beech Grove 15,202 $45,345 $117,100
4 Shelbyville 19,710 $55,950 $104,100
5 Ingalls 2,353 $56,797 $113,300
6 Speedway 13,613 $49,044 $142,800
7 Lebanon 17,196 $58,412 $145,100
8 Martinsville 11,848 $52,599 $119,100
9 Lawrence 49,048 $64,392 $164,200
10 Brooklyn 2,490 $64,750 $111,500
11 Franklin 25,112 $63,518 $162,000
12 Mooresville 9,429 $67,889 $152,300
13 Lapel 2,509 $66,875 $141,900
14 Pendleton 4,833 $76,028 $166,900
15 Plainfield 34,311 $68,541 $203,700
16 Whiteland 4,016 $84,485 $154,800
17 Fortville 4,781 $76,455 $177,700
18 Greenfield 23,024 $63,952 $157,300
19 Bargersville 9,024 $93,742 $282,500
20 Greenwood 62,914 $71,159 $181,700
21 New Whiteland 5,565 $76,338 $142,300
22 Cicero 5,289 $65,378 $198,100
23 Avon 20,848 $92,684 $239,500
24 Danville 10,424 $83,931 $193,800
25 Noblesville 68,885 $89,258 $244,900
26 Mccordsville 8,629 $95,925 $255,900
27 Brownsburg 28,420 $93,147 $225,700
28 New Palestine 2,670 $80,298 $219,200
29 Cumberland 5,860 $73,079 $168,000
30 Zionsville 30,258 $141,546 $430,900
31 Pittsboro 3,627 $104,688 $220,000
32 Westfield 45,695 $106,777 $305,700
33 Carmel 98,137 $119,772 $372,100

The post The 10 Worst Indianapolis Suburbs For 2023 appeared first on RoadSnacks.


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