Center TownshipStarke County, IN
A town of 6,114.
Is Center Township a good place to live?
Center Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $157K for a typical one, or 2.5 years of the county’s $64K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 468th of 585 in Indiana. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 20% of residents live below the poverty line in Center Township, where Indiana’s towns sit at 10% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Only 8 of the 570 Indiana towns we compare have a lower median rent than Center Township. The biggest park or preserve is Wythougan Park, at 51 acres.
What makes Center Township stand out
Where Center Township beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
How Center Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Center Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Center Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Center Township, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Center Township.
For health, Center Township earns a D
22% of Center Township adults smoke cigarettes. Center Township beats the Indiana average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 17% of Center Township adults report frequent physical distress.
| Center Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 17% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 21% | 19% |
| What stands out | Center Township | IN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 25.9% | 15.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 12.2% | 8.1% |
| More smokers | 21.8% | 15.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Center Township’s schools rank behind 61% of Indiana districts
Its public schools are run by Knox Community School Corp. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Knox Community High School, with 500 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knox Community Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 699 | B |
| Knox Community High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 500 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IN on state tests and graduation
Center Township faces a low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 2018, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Center Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Center Township has four seasons and pleasant summers
Center Township has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in five working residents works right in Center Township
Center Township has about as many jobs (2,457) as working residents, but only 540 people both live and work here.
About one in 5 of Center Township’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Center Township is 29 minutes. The top destinations are Knox (19%), Plymouth (7%) and Winamac (4%).
| Center Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 11% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $57,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wythougan Park | — | 51 |
| 2. Knox Community High School Nature Center | — | 17 |
| 3. Knox Community High School Woods | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Everything we know about Center Township
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Center Township
About 1 of every 100 Center Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
About Center Township
Township in Indiana, United States
Center Township is one of nine townships in Starke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,131 (down from 6,229 at 2010) and it contained 2,371 housing units.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 36 sq mi
- Elevation
- 692 ft
Center Township’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Center Township.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center Township | #468 | C+ | A | — | C+ | D |
| Washington Township | #513 | C | A | — | C+ | D |
| Jackson Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Davis Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| California Township | — | — | B | — | C+ | D |
California Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Center Township, Washington Township and California Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Jackson Township and Davis Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Center Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Center Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Center Township, IN a good place to live?
Center Township grades C+ overall, better than 36% of U.S. towns and #468 of 585 in Indiana. It grades D for health and C+ for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Center Township, IN expensive?
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.