Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Butler gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $208K for a typical one, or 2.8 years of the Auburn area’s $74K median household income. It grades A− overall, ranked 116th of 585 in Indiana. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 87% of the country. On the plus side, crime is low: it reports less per resident than 91% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 95% of U.S. towns, with 1 place on the National Register. On history, just 101 of Indiana’s 1,098 towns do better.
Where Butler beats most towns.
Downtown Butler Historic DistrictWhere Butler’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Butler is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for cost of living (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for health (better than 13%), so the A− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,056 in 1880, 2,635 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2011 and 2 maps from 1958 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Butler, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Butler.
Butler pairs an A− overall with homes cheaper than the Indiana norm, draws workers from Fort Wayne and beyond and sees little violent crime.
2,873 jobs are based in Butler, 2.3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 2,041 in 2013 to 2,873.
Most working residents leave Butler for work: only 15% work in town. 19% of residents live below the poverty line in Butler, above both the Indiana town median (10%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). The average trip to work in Butler is 20 minutes.
| Butler | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 11% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
Butler’s property crime rate is 1.1 per 1,000 residents, below both Indiana’s towns (8.6) and U.S. towns (9.9). Butler’s violent crime rate is 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Butler | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 8.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
46% of adults have obesity in Butler. Butler beats the Indiana average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 8. 28% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Butler.
| Butler | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 39% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 26% | 23% |
| What stands out | Butler | IN |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 20% | 15.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.5% | 15.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.7% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 80% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Butler has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 30 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Butler grades A− overall with a typical home of about $208K, below the Indiana typical value; only 18 of the 64 Indiana towns graded A− or better can say that. The median property tax bill is $711, against $1,614 across Indiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Typical home values rose 7.3% in the year to September 2026.
| Butler | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $785 a month | $947 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 74% | 76% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Maxton Park | — | 7 |
| 2. Southside Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Butler; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Butler residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
City in Indiana, United States
Butler is a city in DeKalb County, Indiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Butler had a population of 2,635.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Butler grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #116 of 585 in Indiana. It grades D for health, A for safety and B for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.