Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 23,504, settled in 1892.
Because it does well by almost any measure. Munster earns an A, 44th of 585 graded towns in Indiana. Its public schools beat 96% of Indiana towns on state tests and graduation, the median household earns $110K, and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 77% of the country. The exception is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 72% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. On walkability, just 37 of Indiana’s 1,097 towns do better. Munster’s trail density is 1.1 miles per square mile, above both the Indiana town median (0.2) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Only 65 of Indiana’s 1,096 towns score lower on cost of living.
Where Munster beats most towns.
4.9% of the town is conserved land, across 29 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Munster is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 543 in 1910, 23,894 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2005 and 7 maps from 1900 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Munster. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw29 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw17 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
3 mi National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaUnited CenterSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Indiana Dunes National Park: J. Crocker, Attribution · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in Munster, 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 Munster.
Munster draws workers from Hammond and beyond and is one of Indiana’s best towns for the outdoors, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Indiana (mostly inland flooding).
Its A for the outdoors ranks #18 of 593 in Indiana.
8.1 miles of trail in 29 parks and preserves. Centennial Park, at 150 acres with 1.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Centennial Park | 1.3 mi | 150 |
| 2. West Lakes Park | 1.3 mi | 26 |
| 3. Community Park | 0.9 mi | 48 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
14,671 jobs are based in Munster, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 32% of working residents cross a state line to work, Chicago among the top destinations.
Most working residents leave Munster for work: only 16% work in town. At $110,000, Munster’s median household income is where Indiana’s towns sit at $71,000 and U.S. towns at $80,000. Munster’s average trip to work is 28 minutes.
| Munster | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $110,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 6% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 11% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median property tax bill is $3,670, against $1,614 across Indiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Munster home is worth about $354,000, up 1.8% in a year, 38% above the Indiana typical home. The median rent in Munster is $1,507 a month.
| Munster | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,507 a month | $946 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 87% | 76% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 7,109 U.S. towns with household incomes like Munster’s, it is healthier than 59%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
19% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Munster. Munster beats the Indiana average on 20 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 33% of adults have obesity in Munster.
| Munster | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 26% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 33% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Munster | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10% | 14.7% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.7% | 11.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 8.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 96% of Indiana towns, with expected losses of about $630 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on. 508 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 26 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1981, 508 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Munster.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Violent crime is rare: 17 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Munster has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 27 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
9 within 15 miles of the center of Munster
About 6 of every 100 Munster residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Indiana.
Where Munster’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in Indiana, United States
Munster is a suburban town in North Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is in the Chicago metropolitan area, approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of the Chicago Loop, and shares municipal boundaries with Hammond to the north, Highland to the east, Dyer and Schererville to the south, and Lansing and Lynwood directly west over the Illinois border. Its population was 23,894 at the 2020 US Census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Munster.
Highland next door grades lower for schools (B+ to Munster’s A+) and higher for cost of living (B+ to C+).
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Munster | #44 | A | C+ | B+ | A+ | A− |
| Hammond | #575 | D | A− | D | C− | D |
| North Township | #504 | C | A− | — | C− | D |
| Highland | #155 | A− | B+ | B− | B+ | B |
| St. John Township | #36 | A | B− | — | A | B+ |
| Dyer | #10 | A+ | B− | A+ | A | B+ |
North Township and St. John Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Munster with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Munster grades A overall, better than 93% of U.S. towns and #44 of 585 in Indiana. It grades A− for health, B+ for safety and A+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 3.9 years of the area's median household income ($90,887 across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
2 notable people were born here, including Joe Mansueto and Marcus Burk.
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