Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,479, settled in 1871.
Whiting gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $206K for a typical one, or 2.3 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 455th of 585 in Indiana. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 90% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and it reports more crime per resident than 77% of U.S. towns, including 15 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. On the plus side, it is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 45 of Indiana’s 1,098 towns do better. Whiting is home to Calumet College of Saint Joseph. Only 77 of Indiana’s 1,043 towns score lower on civic life.
Where Whiting beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Whiting’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 Whiting is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 115 in 1880, a peak of 10,880 in 1930, 4,559 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 4 maps from 1900 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Whiting. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi Stadium & arenaSoldier Field
Big draw9 mi MuseumBarack Obama Presidential Center
Big draw21 mi Stadium & arenaWrigley Field
Big draw13 mi Stadium & arenaRate Field
Big draw17 mi Stadium & arenaUnited Center
Big draw16 mi MuseumArt Institute of Chicago1.5M visitors a yearSoldier Field: Photo by Joon Han Contact: [email protected], CC BY-SA 3.0 · Barack Obama Presidential Center: AlphaBeta135, CC0 · Wrigley Field: Ryan Dickey, CC BY 2.0 · Rate Field: User Enoch Lai on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · United Center: User:JeremyA, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Art Institute of Chicago: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Whiting, 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 Whiting.
Whiting draws workers from Hammond and beyond and has homes that are cheap against local pay.
2,891 jobs are based in Whiting, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 36% of working residents cross a state line to work, Chicago among the top destinations.
Most working residents leave Whiting for work: only 15% work in town. At 31 minutes, Whiting’s average trip to work is where Indiana’s towns sit at 24 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. 17% of residents live below the poverty line in Whiting.
| Whiting | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 11% | 8% |
| Work from home | 8.4% | 7.8% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
17% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Whiting, above both the Indiana town median (8.3%) and the median of U.S. towns (8.1%). 76% of Whiting adults had a checkup this year. Whiting beats the Indiana average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17.
| Whiting | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 8.3% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 21% | 19% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 37% | 36% |
| What stands out | Whiting | IN |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.9% | 8.3% |
| Fewer adults with depression | 21.5% | 25.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 16.8% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Whiting’s violent crime rate is 3.4 per 1,000 residents. Whiting reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 77% report less. Whiting’s property crime rate is 17.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Whiting | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.4 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.7 per 1,000 residents | 8.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Whiting has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Whiting is 83°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 2.3 years of the Chicago metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $206K) costs less against local pay than in 79% of Indiana towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
The typical Whiting home is worth about $206,000, up 1.2% in a year, 20% below the Indiana typical home.
| Whiting | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 53% | 76% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,004 a month | $946 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 62% of U.S. communities. Since 1981, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Whiting.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
0.8 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Whiting Lakefront Park, at 26 acres.
| Whiting | Indiana towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.1% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Whiting Lakefront Park | 0.7 mi | 26 |
| 2. Whihala Beach County Park | 0.1 mi | 17 |
| 3. Tom Smolen Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
21 within 15 miles of the center of Whiting
About 3 of every 100 Whiting residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Indiana.
6.1% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
4 places in Whiting on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Whiting.
City in Indiana, United States
Whiting ( WYTE-ing) is a city located in the Chicago Metropolitan Area in Lake County, Indiana, which was founded in 1889. The city is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. It is roughly 16 miles from the Chicago Loop and two miles from Chicago's South Side. Whiting is home to Whiting Refinery, the largest oil refinery in the Midwest. The population was 4,559 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Whiting.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; North Township (C) comes closest.
| Town | IN rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whiting | #455 | C+ | A− | C− | B | D |
| North Township | #504 | C | A− | — | C− | D |
| Hammond | #575 | D | A− | D | C− | D |
| East Chicago | #580 | D | A | D | D | D− |
North Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Whiting with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Whiting grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #455 of 585 in Indiana. It grades D for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
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 A−.
12 notable people were born here, including Ferid Murad and Mary-Lou Daniels.
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