Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Valparaiso's standout: its schools rank ahead of 95% of Indiana towns. Overall it grades A, 76th of 585 graded towns in Indiana. Natural-hazard risk is low and it is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. 30% of working residents work locally in Valparaiso, where Indiana’s towns sit at 11% and U.S. towns at 8%. Valparaiso has 16 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Heritage Hall and David Garland Rose House. Valparaiso's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 92% of U.S. towns.
Where Valparaiso beats most towns.
Porter County Jail and Sheriff's House
Its 16 National Register listings are more than in 96% of Indiana towns with a listing.
Census counts: 522 in 1850, 34,151 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1875 and 4 maps from 1953 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Valparaiso is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Valparaiso. Close and well known come first.
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw35 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
10 mi National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
40 mi MuseumField Museum of Natural History1.4M visitors a year
35 mi MuseumKenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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 · Field Museum of Natural History: Sea Cow, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: zooey from Chicago, Illinois USA, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Valparaiso, 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 Valparaiso.
Valparaiso has colder winter nights than almost anywhere else in Indiana, draws workers from Center Township and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
23,446 jobs are based in Valparaiso, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Valparaiso’s working residents works in town. 15% of residents live below the poverty line in Valparaiso. The top destinations are Merrillville (5%), Portage (4%) and Chicago (4%).
| Valparaiso | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 10% | 7.8% | 11% |
| Median household income | $70,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
7.2 miles of trail in 17 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Fairground Park, at 25 acres.
| Valparaiso | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.7% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fairground Park | 0.3 mi | 25 |
| 2. Forest Park | — | 18 |
| 3. Glenrose Park | — | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 91% of U.S. communities. Since 1981, 42 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Valparaiso.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median property tax bill is $2,745, against $1,614 across Indiana, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Valparaiso home is worth about $360,000, up 2.5% in a year, 40% above the Indiana typical home. 58% of Valparaiso households own their home.
| Valparaiso | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 58% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,224 a month | $946 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
January nights average 16°, the #2 lowest of 1,978 Indiana places with climate records; July afternoons average 82.9°.
Valparaiso has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Among 593 Indiana towns, just 1 have a lower January low than Valparaiso. The July high in Valparaiso is 83°F.
| Valparaiso | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 16°F | 19°F | 22°F |
| July high | 83°F | 84°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 10,515 U.S. towns with household incomes like Valparaiso’s, it is healthier than 71%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income. Within Indiana it is healthier than 79% of the 589 graded towns: much of Indiana scores lower on these measures.
Valparaiso beats the Indiana average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Valparaiso | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 21% | 19% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 26% | 23% |
| What stands out | Valparaiso | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3% | 3.5% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 11.2% | 13% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 74.2% | 77.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Valparaiso
About 9 of every 100 Valparaiso residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
16 places in Valparaiso on the National Register of Historic Places.
24 notable people were born in Valparaiso.
City in Indiana, United States
Valparaiso ( VAL-pə-RAY-zoh), colloquially Valpo, is a city in and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area.
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. Valparaiso grades A overall, better than 88% of U.S. towns and #76 of 585 in Indiana. It grades B for health, B+ for safety and A+ for schools.
That is 4 years of the area's median household income ($90,887 across the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area).
24 notable people were born here, including Mark N. Brown and Robbie Hummel.
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