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Towns / Indiana

Peru, Indiana

Peru is a small town of about 11,000 people in Miami 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 68 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
10,962
up 0.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$92,500
Miami County prices up 18% since 2022
Household income
$46,159
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Indiana
88.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Dukes Memorial Hospital
To Indianapolis
68 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 neighborhood7 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 3 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byDukes Memorial Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityIndianapolis is about 68 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 Peru 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
$92,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 18%Miami County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$826 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$46,159U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
71%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$676 a yearIndiana: $1,614
Homes built before 1940
49%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%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 18% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Indiana outside metro areas, not Peru 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
10,9622020: 10,937
Median age
41.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
18%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
16%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%

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
Manufacturing (25%); schools, health care and social services (23%); retail (16%)
Unemployment rate
9%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
22 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
5%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
24%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Dukes Memorial Hospital, Peru, IN, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Memorial Hospital, Logansport, IN, about 15 miles away. Medicare gives it 4 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

4 public schools in Peru, run by Peru Community Schools and Maconaquah School Corp.

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
68%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
90%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
85°F
Days 90°F or hotter
16 a year
Nights at or below freezing
131 a year
Rain and melted snow
41.1 inches a year
Snow
21 inches a year
Elevation
649 feet

Weather stations: Wabash (13 miles away) and Peru (less than a mile away, rain and snow). 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.

Miami County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

11 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Wallace Circus and American Circus Corporation Winter Quarters, the Godfroy’s Addition Historic District, the Peru Courthouse Square Historic District and the Peru High School Historic District. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

Read about Peru's history on Wikipedia.

Know Peru?

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

  • Mexico, IN (unincorporated)906 people, 4 miles
  • Bunker Hill, IN828 people, 7 miles
  • Denver, IN465 people, 7 miles
  • Miami, IN (unincorporated)409 people, 10 miles
  • Twelve Mile, IN (unincorporated)300 people, 11 miles
  • Anoka, IN (unincorporated)398 people, 11 miles
  • Bennetts Switch, IN (unincorporated)141 people, 12 miles
  • Lincoln, IN (unincorporated)147 people, 12 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.