Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Porter gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $300K, 3.3 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. It grades A− overall, 146th among Indiana's 585 graded towns. On the plus side, its public schools beat 94% of Indiana towns on state tests and graduation. 29% of the land in Porter is conserved, above both Indiana’s towns (1.9%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). No town in Indiana scores higher than Porter on the outdoors. Porter has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Joseph Bailly Homestead and Good Fellow Club Youth Camp.
Where Porter beats most towns.
29.2% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Porter is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Joseph Bailly Homestead is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 224 in 1880, 5,210 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 5 maps from 1940 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Porter. Close and well known come first.
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
in town National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
Big draw28 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw35 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 · Indiana Dunes National Park: J. Crocker, Attribution · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in Porter, 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 Porter.
Porter draws workers from Portage and beyond, is one of Indiana’s best towns for the outdoors and looks healthier within Indiana than nationally.
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #1 of 593 in Indiana.
Porter’s trail density is 1.5 miles per square mile, above both the Indiana town median (0.2) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). The biggest place to walk is Indiana Dunes National Park, 1,263 acres with 8.9 miles of trail. 9.5 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Indiana Dunes National Park | 8.9 mi | 1,263 |
| 2. Hawthorne Park | 0.3 mi | 16 |
| 3. J.D. Marshall Underwater Preserve | — | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
5,114 jobs are based in Porter, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Porter for work: only 8% work in town. The average trip to work in Porter is 29 minutes. Jobs based in Porter fell to 5,114 in 2023, 887 fewer than in 2013.
| Porter | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 7.6% | 11% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1987, 7 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Porter.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Porter has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Only 5 of the 593 Indiana towns we compare have a lower July high than Porter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Porter home is worth about $300,000, up 2.4% in a year, 17% above the Indiana typical home. 83% of Porter households own their home.
| Porter | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 83% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,026 a month | $946 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Porter's reported crime rate is well below Indiana's. Porter’s violent crime rate is 0.2 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Porter | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.3 per 1,000 residents | 8.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Children under 18 are 19% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 42% of residents (37% statewide). 28% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 30% across Indiana.
| Porter | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 19% | 23% | 22% |
| Median age | 43.7 years | 39.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 28% | 22% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.4 points. Across Indiana, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Porter | IN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.5% | 12.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.4% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.7% | 9.6% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.7% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.5% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.4% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.7% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.1% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.8% | 9.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.2% | 32.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 26.5% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.7% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.1% | 18.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.7% | 10.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Within Indiana it is healthier than 74% of the 589 graded towns: much of Indiana scores lower on these measures.
Porter beats the Indiana average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 30% of adults feel lonely in Porter.
| Porter | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 39% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 21% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Porter | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.1% | 15.4% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.5% | 14.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Porter
About 6 of every 100 Porter residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Indiana.
Where Porter’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
5 places in Porter on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Indiana, United States
Porter is a town in Westchester Township, Porter County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 5,210 as of the 2020 census. Porter is in the Indiana Dunes ecosystem, which played a role in the creation of The Nature Conservancy, and inspired conservation efforts. It is home to Porter Beach, also known as Johnson's Beach, on Lake Michigan. Porter is located near Indiana Dunes State Park and on the southern railroad terminus of the Chicago and West Michigan Railway.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Porter.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porter | #146 | A− | B | — | A | B− |
| Chesterton | #103 | A | B− | — | A | B− |
| Dune Acres | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Burns Harbor | — | — | B | — | A | B− |
Burns Harbor has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Porter, Chesterton and Burns Harbor report no FBI crime data of their own. Dune Acres isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Porter with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Porter grades A− overall, better than 79% of U.S. towns and #146 of 585 in Indiana. It grades B− for health and A for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
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