Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rensselaer gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $249K for a typical one, or 2.7 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. It grades A− overall, ranked 169th of 585 in Indiana. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $60K, and 15% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, its schools outperform 86% of the state's. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 93% of U.S. towns, with 8 places on the National Register. 29% of working residents work locally in Rensselaer, above both the Indiana town median (11%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Rensselaer's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 91% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Jasper County Fairgrounds, at 58 acres.
Where Rensselaer beats most towns.
St. Joseph Indian Normal School
Census counts: 241 in 1850, 5,733 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and 2 maps from 1962 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Rensselaer is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rensselaer, 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 Rensselaer.
Rensselaer is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has property taxes about half the Indiana norm.
Walkers can cover 1.4 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. Rensselaer’s concentration of trails stands at 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Rensselaer | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.7% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Brook Side Park | 0.7 mi | 25 |
| 2. Jasper County Fairgrounds | — | 58 |
| 3. Foundation Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 9,011 U.S. towns with household incomes like Rensselaer’s, it is healthier than 51%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
Just over two in five adults have obesity in Rensselaer. This Indiana town tracks Indiana closely on all 32 CDC measures.
| Rensselaer | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 37% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 39% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 78% | 80% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 17% | 14% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expect July afternoons of 84° and January nights of 17°, with about 25 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Rensselaer’s average trip to work comes in at 21 minutes. About one in three of the town’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Rensselaer has lost 290 jobs, to 3,342 in 2023. The top destinations are Lafayette (5%), Marion Township (5%) and Remington (4%).
| Rensselaer | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 6% | 7.8% | 11% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Federal aid has come to Rensselaer households in 10 declared disasters; the latest was in 2018. Compared with 53% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage here is lower. The town has had 14 paid flood insurance claims since 1979. Nearly three fifths of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 16%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median property tax bill is $698, against $1,614 across Indiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Home values are up 4.1% over the year to September 2026. Rensselaer: 63% of households live in a home they own. In Rensselaer, a quarter of sales closed above the list price.
| Rensselaer | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $936 a month | $947 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Rensselaer; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Rensselaer residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Indiana.
8 places in Rensselaer on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Rensselaer.
City in Indiana, United States
Rensselaer is a city located along the Iroquois River in Marion Township, Jasper County, Indiana, United States. The population was 5,733 at the 2020 census, down slightly from 5,859 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Jasper County. Saint Joseph's College is located just south of the city limits.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Rensselaer grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #169 of 585 in Indiana. It grades C for health and A for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
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+.
10 notable people were born here, including Steve Buyer and Augustus Phillips.
