Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Indiana

Marion, Indiana

Marion is a small city of about 28,000 people in Grant County, Indiana. It's the county seat. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Indianapolis, is about 59 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
28,234
down 0% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$85,300
Grant County prices up 26% since 2022
Household income
$43,343
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Indiana
88.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Marion General Hospital
To Indianapolis
59 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.3% below the U.S. average in the parts of Indiana outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood42 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.5 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 14.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town8 public schools: 4 elementary, 2 middle, 1 high school and 1 other.
  • A hospital close byMarion General Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityIndianapolis is about 59 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Marion meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$85,300U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 26%Grant County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$805 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$43,343U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
59%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$815 a yearIndiana: $1,614
Homes built before 1940
23%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
2%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
88.7U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Indiana outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 26% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Indiana outside metro areas, not Marion alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
28,2342020: 28,246
Median age
35.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
18%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
20%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
17%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%U.S.: 6%
College students
13%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (31%); manufacturing (16%); retail (14%)
Unemployment rate
8%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
18 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
7%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
30%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Marion General Hospital, Marion, IN, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

8 public schools in Marion, run by Marion Community Schools.

Colleges in or next to town: Indiana Wesleyan University (10,000 to 19,999 students).

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Indiana's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
69%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
86%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
18°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
14 a year
Nights at or below freezing
126 a year
Rain and melted snow
41.8 inches a year
Snow
24 inches a year
Elevation
812 feet

Weather station: Marion 2 N (2 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Kokomo, Indianapolis.

Grant County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

14 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the George Webster Jr. and Marie Daugherty, House, the Marion Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Historic District and the Marion Downtown Commercial Historic District. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

Campus life. Check Indiana Wesleyan University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Marion's history on Wikipedia.

Know Marion?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Herbst, IN (unincorporated)309 people, 7 miles
  • Mier, IN (unincorporated)210 people, 9 miles
  • Swayzee, IN904 people, 9 miles
  • La Fontaine, IN819 people, 9 miles
  • Van Buren, IN775 people, 9 miles
  • Fowlerton, IN271 people, 11 miles
  • Somerset, IN (unincorporated)221 people, 12 miles
  • Roll, IN (unincorporated)169 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.