Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Marion gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $139K, 2.6 years of the Marion area’s $54K median household income. It grades C− overall, 535th 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, and the median household income is $43K, and 30% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 91% of U.S. towns, with 12 places on the National Register. 30% of residents live below the poverty line in Marion, against 10% in Indiana’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Marion is home to Indiana Wesleyan University-Marion. Among 189 Indiana towns, just 7 have a lower typical home value than Marion.
Where Marion beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Webster, George, Jr. and Marie Daugherty, House is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 703 in 1850, a peak of 39,607 in 1970, 28,310 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 3 maps from 1961 on.
12 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Marion is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 91% of comparable towns) to D− for health (better than 4%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Marion, 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 Marion.
Marion draws workers from Gas City and beyond and has seen reported crime fall by a third or more, but it has poverty well above the Indiana rate.
17% of adults have diabetes in Marion. Marion beats the Indiana average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 43% of adults have high blood pressure in Marion.
| Marion | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 12% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 21% | 19% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Marion | IN |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 27.5% | 15.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 23.7% | 14.7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 13.1% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
17,952 jobs are based in Marion, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 18 minutes, against 24.1 across Indiana.
43% of Marion working residents work locally. Since 2013, Marion has added 1,300 jobs, to 17,952 in 2023. The average trip to work in Marion is 18 minutes.
| Marion | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 43% | 11% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $43,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 6.7% | 7.8% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Marion’s median rent is $805 a month. The typical Marion home is worth about $139,000, up 3.2% in a year, 46% below the Indiana typical home.
| Marion | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $805 a month | $947 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1.5 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Matter Park, at 91 acres.
| Marion | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.7% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Matter Park | 0.8 mi | 91 |
| 2. Lincoln Park | — | 26 |
| 3. Hogan Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Marion 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
Reported crimes fell from 656 to 454 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 86 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Marion.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
3 within 15 miles of the center of Marion
About 13 of every 100 Marion residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
12 places in Marion on the National Register of Historic Places.
33 notable people were born in Marion.
City in Indiana, United States
Marion is a city in and the county seat of Grant County, Indiana, United States, along the Mississinewa River. The population was 28,310 as of the 2020 census. It is named for Francis Marion, a brigadier general from South Carolina in the American Revolutionary War. The city is home to Indiana Wesleyan University, the largest evangelical Christian university in the Midwest and Indiana's largest private university, when online and regional campuses in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois are included. The traditional campus enrolls about 2,800 students. Marion is the birthplace of actor James Dean and cartoonist Jim Davis, and was the location of the wedding of actress Julia Roberts and sin…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Marion grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #535 of 585 in Indiana. It grades D− for health, C+ for safety and C for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
33 notable people were born here, including James Dean and Zach Randolph.
