Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Fairmount gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $172K, 3.2 years of the Marion area’s $54K median household income. It grades C overall, 499th among Indiana's 585 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 26% of residents live below the poverty line in Fairmount, above both Indiana’s towns (10%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Its National Register listings include J.W. Patterson House and Fairmount Commercial Historic District.
Where Fairmount beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
J.W. Patterson House| Widest gap | Fairmount | IN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 28.9% | 15.4% |
Where Fairmount’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 Fairmount is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 337 in 1870, 2,682 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2006 and 2 maps from 1960 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Fairmount, 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 Fairmount.
Fairmount has property taxes about half the Indiana norm, but it has poverty well above the Indiana rate.
1.1 miles of trail in 0 parks and preserves. The trail density in Fairmount is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Fairmount | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.1% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
18% of Fairmount adults have diabetes. Among 589 Indiana towns, just 2 have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Fairmount. 29% of Fairmount adults have been diagnosed with depression.
| Fairmount | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 39% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Fairmount | IN |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 81.7% | 77.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 28.9% | 15.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Fairmount for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Marion (26%), Gas City (6%) and Indianapolis (6%). Half commute less than 13 miles.
| Fairmount | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $52,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.8% | 11% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median property tax bill is $754, against $1,614 across Indiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Typical home values rose 4.7% in the year to September 2026.
| Fairmount | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 78% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,026 a month | $946 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Fairmount has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 19° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Fairmount's reported crime rate is well below Indiana's. Fairmount’s violent crime rate is 0.8 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Fairmount | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 8.3 per 1,000 residents | 11.7 | 13.1 |
FBI crime data, 2023 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 51% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Fairmount since 2013.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fairmount. Close and well known come first.
36 mi MuseumConner Prairie
32 mi TheatreRuoff Music Center
32 mi MuseumIndiana Transportation Museum31 mi MuseumGrissom Air Museum
30 mi MuseumInternational Circus Hall of Fame
20 mi GardenMinnetristaConner Prairie: Unknown, CC BY 2.5 · Ruoff Music Center: TownePost Network, CC BY 2.0 · Indiana Transportation Museum: Jeremy C. Schultz, CC BY-SA 3.0 · International Circus Hall of Fame: Nyttend, Public domain · Minnetrista: XWHJ2004, CC BY 2.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Fairmount
About 4 of every 100 Fairmount residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
4 places in Fairmount on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Fairmount.
Town in Indiana, United States
Fairmount is a town in Fairmount Township, Grant County in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 2,682 at the 2020 census. It is 55 miles (88 km) northeast of Indianapolis. Largely a bedroom community for nearby Marion, Fairmount is best known as the boyhood home of actor James Dean, who is buried there.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Fairmount grades C overall, better than 28% of U.S. towns and #499 of 585 in Indiana. It grades D− for health and C+ 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−.
3 notable people were born here, including Mary Jane Ward and Olive Rush.
