Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,641, established in 1849. 83% more nonprofits per person than the typical Indiana town.
Santa Claus gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $296K, 4 years of the county’s $75K median household income. It grades A overall, ranked 89th of 585 in Indiana. On the plus side, its public schools beat 97% of Indiana towns on state tests and graduation. Santa Claus’ concentration of trails is 1.3 miles per square mile, above both the Indiana town median (0.2) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). Santa Claus's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 94% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Jim Yellig Park, at 41 acres.
Where Santa Claus beats most towns.
Where Santa Claus’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 Santa Claus is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 63 in 1970, 2,536 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1900 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Santa Claus, 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 Santa Claus.
Santa Claus looks healthier within Indiana than nationally, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jim Yellig Park | — | 41 |
| 2. Lincoln State Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Jobs based here fell from 1,230 in 2013 to 868.
The top destinations are Jasper (11%), Ferdinand (10%) and Dale (8%). Only 7% of working residents stay in Santa Claus for work; the rest commute out. Santa Claus: 3.7% of residents live below the poverty line. In Santa Claus, the mean commuting time is 30 minutes, above both Indiana’s towns (24 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes).
| Santa Claus | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.7% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $90,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.7% | 11% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In July, afternoons reach 87°; in January, nights fall to 24°, and about 8 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Santa Claus’ median rent stands at $1,219 a month. The typical home value here is about $296,000, up 0.8% in a year, 15% above the Indiana typical home. Among households here, 92% live in a home they own.
| Santa Claus | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 92% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,219 a month | $946 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA puts 53% of Santa Claus’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 14% to tornadoes. Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 59% of U.S. communities. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Santa Claus after 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2008.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Within Indiana it is healthier than 80% of the 589 graded towns: much of Indiana scores lower on these measures.
For adults in Santa Claus, the share who get no exercise outside work is 22%. CDC measures, 32 in all: Santa Claus beats Indiana on 7 and trails on 1.
| Santa Claus | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 80% | 79% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 26% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Santa Claus | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.8% | 14.7% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6% | 8.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 8.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Santa Claus
About 4 of every 100 Santa Claus residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
Town in Spencer County, Indiana, United States
Santa Claus is a town in Spencer County, Indiana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 2,586 at the 2020 census. It is home to numerous Christmas themed attractions, including Holiday World & Splashin' Safari and Santa's Candy Castle. The town was established in 1854 and known as Santa Fe (), but was unable to establish a post office as there was already another Santa Fe, Indiana. Several town meetings were held, during which the name Santa Claus was selected. The town has the world's only post office to bear the name of the eponymous Christmas figure. Because of this popular name, the post office receives thousands of letters to Santa from all over the w…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Santa Claus.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Claus | #89 | A | B+ | — | A+ | B |
| Harrison Township | — | — | A− | — | A+ | B |
| Clay Township | #237 | B+ | B | — | A+ | B− |
| Carter Township | #34 | A | A+ | — | A+ | C+ |
Harrison Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Santa Claus, Harrison Township, Clay Township and Carter Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Santa Claus with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Santa Claus grades A overall, better than 87% of U.S. towns and #89 of 585 in Indiana. It grades B for health and A+ for schools.
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+.