Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Incorporated in 1858, this town now has 38,435 residents.
At C+ overall, Elkhart Township is better than 42% of U.S. towns and ranks 434th of 585 in Indiana. Its weakest is health (C): CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 70% of the country. Hazard risk is its strong suit (A+). Add walkability to its strengths: it is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns. A typical home there costs about $198K, 2.9 years of the Elkhart metro’s $69K median household income. The biggest place to walk is Shanklin Park, 97 acres with 1.5 miles of trail. 37% of working residents work locally here, above both the Indiana town median (11%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). The rest of its grades are middling: C+ for schools and B− for incomes.
Figures: FEMA National Risk Index · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · schools, state test and graduation results · OpenStreetMap · Census LEHD, 2023.
Where Elkhart Township beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,439 in 1860, 53,923 in 2020. The archive holds 46 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 2 maps from 1959 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Elkhart Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Elkhart 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Elkhart Township.
Elkhart Township carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Indiana (mostly inland flooding) and draws workers from Goshen and beyond.
Trails total 19 miles in 23 parks and preserves. Elkhart Township’s concentration of trails is 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Elkhart Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Abshire Park | 1.8 mi | 68 |
| 2. Witmer Woods | 1.7 mi | 17 |
| 3. Shanklin Park | 1.5 mi | 97 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Two of the 12 schools are below, and why each made the list. Public schools: the Goshen Community Schools. The 6 public schools in Elkhart Township teach 2,352 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goshen Junior High SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 927 | C |
| Goshen High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,717 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IN on state tests and graduation
24,148 jobs are based in Elkhart Township, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Roughly one working resident in three has a job in Elkhart Township itself. Among residents here, 16% live below the poverty line. The median commute is under 9 miles. For Elkhart Township, the average trip to work is 19 minutes.
| Elkhart Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 37% | 11% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 4.4% | 7.8% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 96% of Indiana towns, with expected losses of about $217 per resident a year; that rating is what its A+ for hazard risk is built on.
Expected losses in Elkhart Township break down as 42% from inland flooding and 23% from cold waves. For Elkhart Township, the natural-hazard score from FEMA is 7 of 100. 21 flood insurance claims have been paid locally since 1982.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
For adults in Elkhart Township, the share who worry about having enough food is 17%. In Elkhart Township, 13% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Elkhart Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 8.3% | 8.1% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 39% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 32% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Elkhart Township | IN |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 13.2% | 8.9% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 13.3% | 11.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expect July afternoons of 83° and January nights of 17°, with about 45 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The age of the median resident in Elkhart Township is 33.7 years. Here, a quarter of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 30% in Indiana as a whole. 27% of residents are under 18 locally.
| Elkhart Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 33.7 years | 39.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 27% | 23% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 25% | 22% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.5 points). Across Indiana, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Elkhart Township | IN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.4% | 12.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.5% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.3% | 9.6% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.2% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.7% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.4% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.8% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.8% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 16.6% | 9.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 36% | 32.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.2% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.2% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14.1% | 18.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11% | 10.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
2 within 15 miles of the center of Elkhart Township
About 4 of every 100 Elkhart Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
Where Elkhart Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Indiana, United States
Elkhart ( EL-kart) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The population was 53,923 at the 2020 census. The city is located 15 miles (24 km) east of South Bend, Indiana. It is the most populous city in the Elkhart–Goshen metropolitan area, which in turn is part of the South Bend–Elkhart–Mishawaka combined statistical area, in a region commonly known as Michiana.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Elkhart Township.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elkhart Township | #434 | C+ | B− | — | C+ | C |
| Harrison Township | #186 | A− | B | — | A+ | C |
| Concord Township | #484 | C | B+ | — | C | D |
| Jefferson Township | #292 | B | C+ | — | B+ | C |
| Clinton Township | #265 | B | C+ | — | A− | C |
| Jackson Township | #293 | B | C+ | — | A− | C |
Elkhart Township, Harrison Township, Concord Township, Jefferson Township, Clinton Township and Jackson Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Elkhart Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Elkhart Township grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #434 of 585 in Indiana. It grades C for health and C+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.