Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. St. John earns an A+, 1st among Indiana's 585 graded towns. The median household earns $131K, it reports less crime per resident than 97% of U.S. towns, and its schools rank ahead of 86% of Indiana towns. Its lowest mark, a B, is in cost of living. Only 38 of Indiana’s 1,086 towns score higher on health.
Where St. John beats most towns.
| Widest gap | St. John | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.3% | 14.7% |
Keilman, Francis P. House14,850 counted in 2010 and 20,303 in 2020; an estimated 24,841 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 22.4% since 2020, after 36.7% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far St. John is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 40 in 1880, 20,303 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 2006 and 4 maps from 1953 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around St. John. Close and well known come first.
Big draw30 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw36 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw25 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
5 mi National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
Big draw32 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 · Barack 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 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in St. John, 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 St. John.
St. John sends many workers across the state line to Chicago, has less food insecurity than most of Indiana and has household incomes well above the Indiana norm.
Violent crime is rare: 7 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
St. John’s property crime rate is 1.4 per 1,000 residents, against 8.6 in Indiana’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. St. John’s violent crime rate is 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| St. John | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.4 per 1,000 residents | 8.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its widest gap with Indiana is food insecurity: 9.3% of its 15,391 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.7% statewide. Against the 4,392 U.S. towns with household incomes like St. John’s, it is less healthy than 61%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
29% of St. John adults feel lonely, where Indiana’s towns sit at 32% and U.S. towns at 33%. 15% of St. John adults report frequent mental distress. John beats the Indiana average on 21 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| St. John | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 26% | 23% |
| What stands out | St. John | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.3% | 14.7% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.1% | 15.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.6% | 8.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
29% of working residents cross a state line to work, Chicago among the top destinations. The average commute for its 9,126 working residents takes 31.2 minutes, against 24.1 across Indiana.
2.1% of residents live below the poverty line in St. John. Among 593 Indiana towns, just 10 have a higher median household income than St. John. The average trip to work in St. John is 31 minutes.
| St. John | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $131,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 2.1% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 13% | 7.8% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
John has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 27 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 61% of U.S. communities. Since 2007, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in St. John.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| St. John | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.7% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Prairie West Park | — | 13 |
| 2. Civic Memorial Park | 0.1 mi | 11 |
| 3. Homestead Acres Park Number 1 | 0.1 mi | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median property tax bill is $3,725, against $1,614 across Indiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
6 within 15 miles of the center of St. John
About 4 of every 100 St. John residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
Where St. John’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in Indiana, United States
St. John or Saint John is a town in Lake County, Indiana, United States. St. John is located in St. John Township, Hanover Township, and Center Township. It is a southeastern suburb of Chicago. St. John was founded in 1837. The population was 20,303 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with St. John.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. John | #1 | A+ | B | A+ | A | A− |
| Schererville | #97 | A | B− | B | A | B+ |
| St. John Township | #36 | A | B− | — | A | B+ |
| Hanover Township | #52 | A | B− | — | A | B+ |
St. John Township and Hanover Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare St. John with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. St. John grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #1 of 585 in Indiana. It grades A− for health, A+ for safety and A for schools.
The typical home is worth about $406,000, 58% above the Indiana typical home. 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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