Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
North Township is a city of 152,714, and it grades C overall, ranked 504th of 585 in Indiana. A typical home costs about $192K, 2.1 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income, and it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. The trade-offs: residents are less healthy than 88% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and its schools rank behind 85% of the state's. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 95% of U.S. towns. 32% of working residents work locally in North Township, above both the Indiana town median (11%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Only 42 of Indiana’s 1,098 towns score higher on the outdoors. The biggest place to walk is Wicker Memorial Park, 220 acres with 6.4 miles of trail.
Where North Township beats most towns.
5.9% of the town is conserved land, across 107 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far North Township is from typical.
Its best grade is an A for history, which describes the town but isn’t part of the overall grade; its C comes from the livability subjects above.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 9,631 in 1890, 156,686 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2026 and 5 maps from 1900 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around North Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw19 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw14 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw18 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw22 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw20 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in North Township, 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 North Township.
42 miles of trail in 107 parks and preserves. The trail density in North Township is 0.8 miles per square mile.
| North Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.9% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wicker Memorial Park | 6.4 mi | 220 |
| 2. Gibson Woods Nature Preserve | 2.3 mi | 118 |
| 3. West Lakes Park | 1.4 mi | 26 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Three of its 50 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilbur Wright Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 990 | A− |
| Hammond Central High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,814 | C− |
| Munster High SchoolTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,474 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IN on state tests and graduation
44% of North Township adults sleep under 7 hours. North Township beats the Indiana average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 15. 18% of North Township adults smoke cigarettes.
| North Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 37% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 21% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | North Township | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with depression | 20% | 25.1% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.7% | 8.3% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 27.1% | 14.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
North Township has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
28% of working residents cross a state line to work, Chicago among the top destinations.
About one in 3 of North Township’s working residents works in town. 17% of residents live below the poverty line in North Township. Since 2013, North Township has lost 5,883 jobs, to 65,712 in 2023.
| North Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $62,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.9% | 7.8% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Indiana average. North Township has lost 2.5% of its people since 2020, down to 152,714 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 24% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 30% across Indiana.
| North Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 38.3 years | 39.5 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 24% | 22% | 29% |
51.4% women, 48.6% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Indiana, 50.4% of residents are women. Median age: women 39.6, men 37.3.
| North Township | IN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.7% | 12.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.8% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.4% | 9.6% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.8% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.5% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.5% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.2% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.9% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 14.6% | 9.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.4% | 32.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.3% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.4% | 18.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 7.3% | 10.8% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 1,317 flood insurance claims have been paid out in North Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
16 within 15 miles of the center of North Township
About 5 of every 100 North Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Indiana.
Township in Indiana, United States
North Township is one of 11 townships in Lake County, Indiana. As of the 2020 census, its population was 156,686.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with North Township.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Township | #504 | C | A− | — | C− | D |
| East Chicago | #580 | D | A | D | D | D− |
| Whiting | #455 | C+ | A− | C− | B | D |
| Hammond | #575 | D | A− | D | C− | D |
| Calumet Township | #573 | D | A− | — | D− | D− |
| Gary | #585 | D− | A− | D− | D− | D− |
| Highland | #155 | A− | B+ | B− | B+ | B |
| Griffith | #60 | A | A− | B | A− | B− |
North Township and Calumet Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare North Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
North Township grades C overall, better than 27% of U.S. towns and #504 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−.
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