Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,621, laid out in 1838.
Because it does well by almost any measure. New Palestine earns an A, ranked 46th of 585 in Indiana. Its schools outperform 93% of the state's and the median household earns $97K. Its lowest mark, a B−, is in cost of living. New Palestine’s average trip to work is 35 minutes, above both the Indiana town median (24 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). On health, just 62 of Indiana’s 1,086 towns do better.
Where New Palestine beats most towns.
| Widest gap | New Palestine | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.7% | 14.7% |
2,055 counted in 2010 and 2,744 in 2020; an estimated 3,621 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 32% since 2020, after 33.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far New Palestine is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 391 in 1880, 2,744 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2012 and 3 maps from 1953 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around New Palestine. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaLucas Oil Stadium
14 mi Stadium & arenaGainbridge Fieldhouse
14 mi LandmarkSoldiers' and Sailors' Monument
17 mi Stadium & arenaHinkle Fieldhouse
15 mi MuseumThe Children's Museum of Indianapolis1.0M visitors a year
17 mi MuseumIndianapolis Museum of Art428K visitors a yearLucas Oil Stadium: Josh Hallett from Winter Haven, FL, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gainbridge Fieldhouse: Durin at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument: alexeatswhales, CC BY 2.0 · Hinkle Fieldhouse: Peetlesnumber1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Children's Museum of Indianapolis: HstryQT, CC BY 3.0 · Indianapolis Museum of Art: No machine-readable author provided. Cszmurlo assumed (based on copyright claims, CC BY 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in New Palestine, 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 New Palestine.
New Palestine has less food insecurity than most of Indiana, but it has commutes longer than most of Indiana and has property taxes 1.6 times the Indiana norm.
The median property tax bill is $2,612, against $1,614 across Indiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical New Palestine home is worth about $384,000, up 2% in a year, 49% above the Indiana typical home.
| New Palestine | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 80% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,129 a month | $946 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The average commute for its 1,517 working residents takes 35.3 minutes, against 24.1 across Indiana. Jobs based here grew from 659 in 2013 to 1,053.
Most working residents leave New Palestine for work: only 4% work in town. Since 2013, New Palestine has added 394 jobs, to 1,053 in 2023. 5.7% of residents live below the poverty line in New Palestine.
| New Palestine | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $97,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.7% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.7% | 11% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its widest gap with Indiana is food insecurity: 7.7% of its 2,119 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.7% statewide.
28% of New Palestine adults feel lonely. New Palestine beats the Indiana average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 12% of New Palestine adults report frequent physical distress.
| New Palestine | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 37% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 26% | 25% |
| What stands out | New Palestine | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.7% | 14.7% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5% | 8.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.8% | 8.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 71% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
New Palestine has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 20° and about 20 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
New Palestine’s property crime rate is 0.8 per 1,000 residents. New Palestine's reported crime rate is well below Indiana's. New Palestine’s violent crime rate is 2.3 per 1,000 residents.
| New Palestine | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 10.2 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.7 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
3 within 15 miles of the center of New Palestine
About 7 of every 100 New Palestine residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Indiana.
Where New Palestine’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 notable people were born in New Palestine.
Town in Indiana, United States
New Palestine (pronounced PAL-es-teen) is a town in Sugar Creek Township, Hancock County, Indiana, along Sugar Creek. As of the 2020 census, New Palestine had a population of 2,744.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. New Palestine grades A overall, better than 93% of U.S. towns and #46 of 585 in Indiana. It grades B+ for health and A for schools.
That is 4.8 years of the area's median household income ($79,852 across the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, 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 B−.
New Palestine was laid out in 1838. 4 notable people were born here, including Angela Ahrendts and Walter H. Moeller.
