Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 105,634, platted in 1837.
Carmel is one of the best-graded places in America: an A+, 28th of 585 graded towns in Indiana. Its public schools beat 98% of Indiana towns on state tests and graduation, the median household earns $142K, and residents are healthier than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $576K, 7.2 years of the Indianapolis metro’s $80K median household income. 74% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Carmel, against 22% in Indiana’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns. Carmel has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them John Kinzer House and Micah Newby House. Carmel's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Where Carmel beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Carmel | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.4% | 14.7% |
Census counts: 92 in 1880, 99,757 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 4 maps from 1952 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Carmel is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Carmel. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaLucas Oil Stadium
14 mi Stadium & arenaGainbridge Fieldhouse
9 mi Stadium & arenaHinkle Fieldhouse
6 mi MuseumConner Prairie
14 mi LandmarkSoldiers' and Sailors' Monument
10 mi MuseumIndianapolis Museum of Art428K visitors a yearLucas Oil Stadium: Josh Hallett from Winter Haven, FL, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gainbridge Fieldhouse: Durin at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hinkle Fieldhouse: Peetlesnumber1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Conner Prairie: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument: alexeatswhales, CC BY 2.0 · Indianapolis Museum of Art: No machine-readable author provided. Cszmurlo assumed (based on copyright claims, CC BY 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Carmel, 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 Carmel.
Carmel is the healthiest town in Indiana and draws workers from Indianapolis and beyond, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Indiana.
At 7.2 years of the Indianapolis metro’s $80K median household income, the typical home (about $576K) costs more against local pay than in any other Indiana town; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $4,056, against $1,614 across Indiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Carmel’s median rent is $1,712 a month. Typical home values rose 4.5% in the year to September 2026.
| Carmel | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,712 a month | $946 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 44% | 44% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
27 miles of trail in 65 parks and preserves. Central Park, at 162 acres with 1.6 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. The trail density in Carmel is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Carmel | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Northview Church Open Space | 2.6 mi | 54 |
| 2. Central Park | 1.6 mi | 162 |
| 3. River Heritage Park | 0.9 mi | 45 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
It is the healthiest of the 589 Indiana towns we grade on the CDC estimates behind the Health Grade. Its widest gap with Indiana is food insecurity: 6.4% of its 74,350 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.7% statewide.
9.1% of Carmel adults report frequent physical distress. No town among the 589 in Indiana we compare has a lower share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Carmel. 13% of Carmel adults report frequent mental distress.
| Carmel | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.1% | 15% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.2% | 17% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 33% |
| What stands out | Carmel | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.4% | 14.7% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.8% | 15.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
75,709 jobs are based in Carmel, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 56,083 in 2013 to 75,709.
About one in 4 of Carmel’s working residents works in town. 27% of workers work from home in Carmel. Since 2013, Carmel has added 19,626 jobs, to 75,709 in 2023.
| Carmel | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 27% | 7.8% | 11% |
| Median household income | $142,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 23% | 11% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 3.9% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 920 to 764 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 52 reported in 2025, 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Carmel has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 19° and about 20 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 91 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Carmel.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
9 within 15 miles of the center of Carmel
About 5 of every 100 Carmel residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Indiana.
79,191 counted in 2010 and 99,757 in 2020; an estimated 105,634 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 5.9% since 2020, after 26% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
4 places in Carmel on the National Register of Historic Places.
13 notable people were born in Carmel.
City in Indiana, United States
Carmel () is a suburban city in Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, immediately north of Indianapolis. With a population of 99,757 as of the 2020 census, the city spans 49 square miles (130 km2) across Clay Township and is bordered by the White River to the east and the Boone County line to the west. Carmel was home to one of the first electronic automated traffic signals in the country, and constructed 155 roundabouts between 1997 and 2025. The city is designed with walkability and pedestrian wellbeing in mind, with trails, parks and green spaces being common.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Carmel.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmel | #28 | A+ | C− | A− | A+ | A+ |
| Clay Township | #35 | A | C− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Delaware Township | #22 | A+ | C | — | A+ | A |
| Fishers | #23 | A+ | C− | A− | A+ | A |
| Zionsville | #18 | A+ | C− | A+ | A+ | A |
| Washington Township | #385 | B− | C | — | C− | A− |
| Indianapolis | — | — | C | D | — | — |
| Noblesville · Noblesville Township | #38 | A | C | A− | A+ | A |
Clay Township, Delaware Township and Washington Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Indianapolis isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Noblesville Township and Noblesville are one community, graded once. Compare Carmel with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Carmel grades A+ overall, better than 96% of U.S. towns and #28 of 585 in Indiana. It grades A+ for health, A− for safety and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
13 notable people were born here, including Franklin Booth and Zach Trotman.
