Elkhart, IN
Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Elkhart ranks 181st for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 201st for income. A household earns $69,872 a year while median rent runs $1,047/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 10% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (3rd of 300), while education is the soft spot (278th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 59th and home prices 77th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Elkhart, your take-home is worth about $65,390 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 201st of 300↑28.1%$69,872
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 60th of 30090 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $77,356
- Per-capita income
- $31,884
- Full-time pay
- $41,726
Housing
- Median rent
- 59th of 300↑24.5%$1,047/mo
- Home value
- 77th of 300↑49.3%$239,500
- Property tax
- $1,966/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 7.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 151st of 3004.5%
- Bachelor's+
- 278th of 30022.1%
- Avg commute
- 98th of 30022.8 min
People
- Population
- 207,436
- Population change
- +0.5%
- Median age
- 35.7 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 9.5%
- Broadband
- 89.6%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 141st of 30045
- Natural-hazard loss
- 3rd of 300$6/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 246th of 30022.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 12.9%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Household income
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — goshen muni ap.
What jobs pay in Elkhart
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Financial managers
- $145,980
- Pharmacists
- $143,720
- IT managers
- $138,060
- General & operations managers
- $122,070
- Software developers
- $101,710
- Civil engineers
- $99,330
- Registered nurses
- $88,100
- Accountants & auditors
- $77,420
- Police officers
- $73,370
- Carpenters
- $65,520
- Secondary school teachers
- $64,970
- Plumbers
- $64,730
- Elementary school teachers
- $59,930
- Electricians
- $58,640
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,100
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $57,590
- Customer service reps
- $48,000
- Construction laborers
- $47,780
- Janitors
- $37,080
- Retail salespersons
- $33,360
- Cashiers
- $29,560
- Waiters & waitresses
- $28,060
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Elkhart metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Indiana are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Michigan884
- Florida494
- California450
- Illinois213
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Elkhart
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Elkhart metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Elkhart metro?
- Median gross rent across the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metro Area is $1,047 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Elkhart.
- What is the median household income in the Elkhart metro?
- A typical household in the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metro Area earns $69,872 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Elkhart expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metro Area runs about 10% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Elkhart metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $77,356 (versus its face value of $69,872). CityLedger rates the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Elkhart metro?
- The median home value across the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metro Area is $239,500 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Elkhart metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Elkhart-Goshen, IN Metro Area is 4.5% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).