Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Knox gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $226K for a typical one, or 3.5 years of the county’s $64K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 454th among Indiana's 585 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. On CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally, and the median household income is $49K, and 29% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 29% of residents live below the poverty line in Knox, where Indiana’s towns sit at 10% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. On walkability, just 79 of Indiana’s 1,097 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Wythougan Park, at 53 acres.
Where Knox beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Starke County Courthouse| Widest gap | Knox | IN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 36.6% | 15.4% |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Knox is from typical.
Its grades run from A for cost of living (better than 90% of comparable towns) to D− for health (better than 1%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 124 in 1860, 3,662 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and a map from 1984 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Knox, 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 Knox.
Knox trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, but it has poverty well above the Indiana rate and has commutes longer than most of Indiana.
33% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Knox. Of the 589 Indiana towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Knox. 22% of adults report frequent mental distress in Knox.
| Knox | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 21% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 17% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Knox | IN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 36.6% | 15.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 15.5% | 8.1% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 26.1% | 14.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
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 Knox.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Knox 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.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 1,611 working residents takes 31.9 minutes, against 24.1 across Indiana.
About one in 4 of Knox’s working residents works in town. Knox’s average trip to work is 32 minutes. The top destinations are Plymouth (7%), La Porte (4%) and Winamac (4%).
| Knox | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 23% | 11% | 8% |
| Median household income | $49,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Knox's reported crime rate is below Indiana's. The violent crime rate in Knox is 5 per 1,000 residents.
| Knox | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 5 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.7 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 5.3 per 1,000 residents | 10.2 | 11.5 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Homes are within reach (about $226K for the typical one, A for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 23 miles. Home values rose 47% in five years, to about $226K, against 29% across Indiana.
Among 570 Indiana towns, just 1 have a lower median rent than Knox. 59% of Knox households own their home. Typical home values rose 6.5% in the year to September 2026.
| Knox | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $540 a month | $947 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 59% | 76% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0.4 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves.
| Knox | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.2% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wythougan Park | — | 53 |
| 2. Knox Community High School Nature Center | — | 17 |
| 3. Knox Community High School Woods | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Knox
About 1 of every 100 Knox residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
2 places in Knox on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Indiana, United States
Knox is a city in Center Township, Starke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 3,662 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Starke County.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Knox grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #454 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.
