Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Indiana.
A strong record with one exception. Its strongest subject is schools — its schools outperform 93% of the state's. Homes run about $338K for a typical one, 4.2 times the Indianapolis metro’s $80K median household income. The catch is walkability. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 74% of U.S. towns. Put together, the subjects come to an A+ overall, better than 95% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 29th of 585 in Indiana. Rufus and Amanda Black House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Sugar Creek Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| New Palestine Elementary School | PK–4 | 579 |
| Sugar Creek Elementary Sch | PK–4 | 577 |
| Montessori Science Academy | PK–7 | 61 |
Rufus and Amanda Black House14,920 counted in 2010 and 16,495 in 2020; an estimated 18,299 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 10.9% since 2020, after 10.6% 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 Sugar Creek Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 3 maps from 1953 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sugar Creek Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaLucas Oil Stadium
14 mi Stadium & arenaGainbridge Fieldhouse
14 mi LandmarkSoldiers' and Sailors' Monument
16 mi Stadium & arenaHinkle Fieldhouse
15 mi MuseumThe Children's Museum of Indianapolis1.0M visitors a year
17 mi MuseumIndianapolis Museum of Art428K visitors a yearLucas Oil Stadium: Josh Hallett from Winter Haven, FL, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gainbridge Fieldhouse: Durin at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument: alexeatswhales, CC BY 2.0 · Hinkle Fieldhouse: Peetlesnumber1, CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Children's Museum of Indianapolis: HstryQT, CC BY 3.0 · Indianapolis Museum of Art: No machine-readable author provided. Cszmurlo assumed (based on copyright claims, CC BY 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sugar Creek 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 Sugar Creek Township.
Sugar Creek Township pairs an A for schools with modest home prices and looks healthier within Indiana than nationally, but it has little public open land.
That grade comes with a B for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $338K.
The largest public high school is New Palestine High School, with 1,254 students. Of its 6 schools, three are listed below, each with the reason. The New Palestine Community Schools runs its public schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Palestine Jr High SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 606 | A |
| New Palestine High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,254 | A |
| New Palestine Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 579 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IN on state tests and graduation
Sugar Creek Township has 2,406 jobs for its 9,014 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here grew from 1,793 in 2013 to 2,406.
The top destinations are Indianapolis (48%), Greenfield (6%) and Carmel (4%). Just 7% of Sugar Creek Township’s working residents have a job in town. The town had 2,406 jobs in 2023, up 613 from 2013. Its typical household income comes in at $101,000.
| Sugar Creek Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 17% | 7.8% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $101,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.6% | 10% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Within Indiana it is healthier than 88% of the 589 graded towns: much of Indiana scores lower on these measures. Its widest gap with Indiana is food insecurity: 8.7% of its 16,170 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.7% statewide.
In Sugar Creek Township, 13% of adults smoke cigarettes. Sugar Creek Township: 17% of adults say their health is fair or poor, below both Indiana’s towns (21%) and U.S. towns (19%). 32% of adults in Sugar Creek Township sleep under 7 hours; 20% get no exercise outside work. Against the Indiana average, Sugar Creek Township comes out ahead on 17 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1.
| Sugar Creek Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 32% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 37% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 26% | 25% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Sugar Creek Township | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.7% | 14.7% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.8% | 8.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 8.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expect July afternoons of 85° and January nights of 20°, with about 20 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected losses in Sugar Creek Township break down as 63% from inland flooding and 20% from tornadoes. One flood insurance claim has been paid in the town since 2011. Its FEMA hazard score stands at 40 of 100, against 38 of 100 in Indiana’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Just 4 of its 22,555 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Sugar Creek Township itself; its outdoors grade is D.
Sugar Creek Township Park, at 85 acres with 1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Count the trails in 3 parks and preserves and they come to 1.1 miles.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sugar Creek Township Park | 1 mi | 85 |
| 2. Jacob Schramm Nature Preserve | — | 39 |
| 3. Meadow Haven Park | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
5 within 15 miles of the center of Sugar Creek Township
About 6 of every 100 Sugar Creek Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Indiana.
Where Sugar Creek Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Township in Indiana, United States
Sugar Creek Township is one of fourteen townships in Shelby County, Indiana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,086 and it contained 412 housing units. Sugar Creek Township was organized in 1840. The community took its name from Sugar Creek, which flows southward in the area just west of the community.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Sugar Creek Township.
At #29 in IN, it grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; Center Township (A−) comes closest.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar Creek Township | #29 | A+ | B | — | A | B+ |
| Center Township | #107 | A− | B+ | — | B+ | B |
| Buck Creek Township | #136 | A− | B− | — | A− | B+ |
| Indianapolis | — | — | C | D | — | — |
| Philadelphia | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Warren Township | #487 | C | B+ | — | C− | C |
| Moral Township | #232 | B+ | A− | — | B+ | B− |
| Brandywine Township | — | — | A− | — | A | B− |
Brandywine Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Sugar Creek Township, Center Township, Buck Creek Township, Warren Township, Moral Township and Brandywine Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Indianapolis and Philadelphia aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Sugar Creek Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Sugar Creek Township grades A+ overall, better than 95% of U.S. towns and #29 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.
