Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Porter Township gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $369K for a typical one, or 4.1 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. It grades A− overall, 181st among Indiana's 585 graded towns. On the plus side, the median household earns $123K. Porter Township’s average trip to work is 40 minutes, above both Indiana’s towns (24 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. On history, just 49 of Indiana’s 1,098 towns do worse.
Where Porter Township beats most towns.
Where Porter Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Porter Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 224 in 1880, 5,210 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 4 maps from 1953 on.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Porter 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 Porter Township.
Porter Township looks healthier within Indiana than nationally and sends most of its workers to Valparaiso and beyond, but it trails Winfield Township and its other neighbors on schools.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 79% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 9 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Porter Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Each of its 5 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its B+, Winfield Township highest at A.
Its public schools are run by Porter Township School Corp. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Boone Grove High School, with 467 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porter Lakes Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 552 | A |
| Boone Grove High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 467 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IN on state tests and graduation
Porter Township has 611 jobs for its 4,397 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 39.9 minutes, against 24.1 across Indiana.
4.6% of Porter Township residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based in Porter Township grew to 611 in 2023, 227 more than in 2013. 3% of Porter Township working residents work locally.
| Porter Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $123,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.6% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3% | 11% | 8% |
| Work from home | 9.7% | 7.8% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Porter Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 16° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median household earns $123,075, against $71,957 across Indiana, one input to its A for jobs and income.
Adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 43% of residents (37% statewide). 33% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Porter Township.
| Porter Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 22% | 29% |
| Median age | 42.5 years | 39.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 19% | 18% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 23% | 22% |
47% women, 53% men
About 114 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2 points). Across Indiana, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Porter Township | IN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.4% | 12.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.2% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.4% | 9.6% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.8% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.8% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.3% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.7% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.8% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.6% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.4% | 9.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.9% | 32.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 19% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.2% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.9% | 18.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.5% | 10.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
2.9 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Harold W. Cleveland Park, at 22 acres.
| Porter Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.2% | 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. Harold W. Cleveland Park | 0.4 mi | 22 |
| 2. Brandywine Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Within Indiana it is healthier than 73% of the 589 graded towns: much of Indiana scores lower on these measures. Against the 5,293 U.S. towns with household incomes like Porter Township’s, it is less healthy than 89%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
Porter Township beats the Indiana average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| Porter Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 26% | 23% |
| What stands out | Porter Township | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.4% | 14.7% |
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 6.1% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Porter Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw40 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
12 mi National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
36 mi MuseumKenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry1.5M visitors a year
36 mi Park & preserveJackson Park
36 mi LandmarkOak Woods CemeteryBarack 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 · Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: zooey from Chicago, Illinois USA, CC BY 2.0 · Jackson Park: J. Crocker, Public domain · Oak Woods Cemetery: Unknown, Attribution
1 within 15 miles of the center of Porter Township
About 4 of every 100 Porter Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
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)
5 towns share a border with Porter Township.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its A−; Union Township (A−) is closest.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porter Township | #181 | A− | B+ | — | B+ | B− |
| Winfield Township | #68 | A | B− | — | A | B+ |
| Boone Township | #125 | A− | A | — | A− | C+ |
| Morgan Township | #9 | A+ | A | — | A | B− |
| Winfield | #48 | A | B− | — | A | A− |
| Union Township | #142 | A− | B | — | A | B− |
Porter Township, Winfield Township, Boone Township, Morgan Township, Winfield and Union Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Porter Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Porter Township grades A− overall, better than 76% of U.S. towns and #181 of 585 in Indiana. It grades B− for health and B+ for schools. Walkability 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 B+.
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