Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 21,022 people, lies in Indiana.
Few weak spots anywhere. Its best grade is for schools: its public schools beat 94% of Indiana towns on state tests and graduation. Westchester Township grades A overall, better than 89% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 74th of 585 in Indiana. It is strong on walkability as well: it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns. Homes run about $266K for a typical one, 2.9 times the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. 29% of the land in the town is conserved, above both the Indiana town median (1.9%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest place to walk is Indiana Dunes National Park, 4,487 acres with 24.7 miles of trail.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · USGS PAD-US · OpenStreetMap.
Where Westchester Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery Charter School | K–8 | 536 |
| Bailly Elementary School | K–4 | 374 |
| Brummitt Elementary School | K–4 | 363 |
29.2% of the town is conserved land, across 14 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Indiana), ordered by how far Westchester Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,629 in 1890, 20,635 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2019 and 5 maps from 1940 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Westchester Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
in town National ParkIndiana Dunes National Park2.6M visitors a year
Big draw29 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw32 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw35 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 · Indiana Dunes National Park: J. Crocker, Attribution · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in Westchester 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 Westchester Township.
Westchester Township trades workers with Chesterton and other neighbors, is one of Indiana’s best towns for the outdoors and looks healthier within Indiana than nationally.
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #2 of 593 in Indiana.
There are 55 miles of trail across 14 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Westchester Township: 14, covering 8,793 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Indiana Dunes National Park | 24.7 mi | 4,487 |
| 2. Dunes Nature Preserve | 16.5 mi | 1,662 |
| 3. Indiana Dunes State Park | 5.5 mi | 2,193 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Public schools: Duneland School Corporation. Two of the 10 schools are below, and why each made the list. The 4 public schools in Westchester Township teach 1,635 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery Charter SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 536 | B |
| Brummitt Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 363 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within IN on state tests and graduation
Expected losses in Westchester Township break down as 48% from inland flooding and 22% from tornadoes. Compared with 74% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage locally is lower. Paid flood insurance claims here since 1980: 11.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Among 593 Indiana towns, just 5 have a lower peak summer temperature than Westchester Township. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 19° and about 40 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Westchester Township has about as many jobs (10,615) as working residents, but only 1,635 people both live and work here.
Half the trips to work are shorter than 12 miles. Among working residents in Westchester Township, 18% work locally. Jobs here fell by 1,052 from 2013 to 2023, to 10,615. The top destinations are Chesterton (13%), Valparaiso (10%) and Portage (7%).
| Westchester Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 11% | 8% |
| Work from home | 14% | 7.8% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $83,000 | $71,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
By age, Westchester Township looks like Indiana: each broad group is within 4 points. In Westchester Township, just over a third of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more. The town’s age of the median resident is 38.9 years.
| Westchester Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 22% | 29% |
| Median age | 38.9 years | 39.5 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2 points. Across Indiana, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Westchester Township | IN | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.8% | 12.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.1% | 10.9% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.7% | 9.6% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.9% | 13.1% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.9% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.9% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.8% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.8% | 10.1% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.1% | 6.7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.1% | 9.6% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31.3% | 32.5% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.3% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.2% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.2% | 18.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10% | 10.8% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Within Indiana it is healthier than 77% of the 589 graded towns: much of Indiana scores lower on these measures.
For adults in Westchester Township, the share who smoke cigarettes is 14%. In Westchester Township, two in five adults have obesity, and 17% report frequent mental distress.
| Westchester Township | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 32% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 39% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Westchester Township | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.1% | 14.7% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 11.8% | 15.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Westchester Township
About 5 of every 100 Westchester Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Indiana.
Township in Indiana, United States
Westchester Township is one of twelve townships in Porter County, Indiana. It is included in the Calumet, Northwest Indiana, and Great Lakes regions. It is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Chicago. It stretches from the famous Indiana Dunes on its northern border, south to the Valparaiso Moraine, a ridge of rolling hills left by the last glacier to pass through the area. As of the 2010 census, its population was 19,396.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Westchester Township.
It grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; Chesterton (A) comes closest.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westchester Township | #74 | A | B | — | A | B− |
| Burns Harbor | — | — | B | — | A | B− |
| Pine Township | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | C |
| Portage Township | #444 | C+ | B+ | — | C+ | C |
| Portage | #466 | C+ | B+ | B− | C+ | C− |
| Chesterton | #103 | A | B− | — | A | B− |
| Liberty Township | #225 | B+ | C+ | — | A | B− |
| Beverly Shores | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Burns Harbor and Pine Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Westchester Township, Burns Harbor, Pine Township, Portage Township, Chesterton and Liberty Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Beverly Shores isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Westchester Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Westchester Township grades A overall, better than 89% of U.S. towns and #74 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.
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