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Towns / Indiana

Warsaw, Indiana

Warsaw is a small town of about 16,100 people in Kosciusko County, Indiana. It's the county seat. It has grown about 2% since 2020. A typical home costs about 3 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 103 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
16,130
up 2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$181,200
Kosciusko County prices up 19% since 2022
Household income
$61,035
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Indiana
88.7
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Kosciusko Community Hospital
To Indianapolis
103 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 3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood81 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 5 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 15.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town9 public schools: 6 elementary, 2 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byKosciusko Community Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityIndianapolis is about 103 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 Warsaw 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
$181,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 19%Kosciusko County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,066 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$61,035U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
49%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,416 a yearIndiana: $1,614
Homes built before 1940
21%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
16%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 19% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Indiana outside metro areas, not Warsaw 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
16,1302020: 15,811
Median age
33.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
15%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
34%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
10%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 (40%); schools, health care and social services (16%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (10%)
Unemployment rate
2%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
16 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
10%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
18%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Kosciusko Community Hospital, Warsaw, IN, in town. It's a general hospital. 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

9 public schools in Warsaw, run by Warsaw Community Schools.

Colleges in or next to town: Grace College and Theological Seminary (1,000 to 4,999 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
72%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
88%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
17°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
12 a year
Nights at or below freezing
132 a year
Rain and melted snow
39.3 inches a year
Snow
32 inches a year
Elevation
821 feet

Weather stations: Warsaw (2 miles away) and Warsaw 5SW (6 miles 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: Elkhart, Indianapolis.

Kosciusko 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

8 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Warsaw Courthouse Square Historic District and Warsaw Courthouse Square Historic District (Boundary Increase).

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Indiana Dunes National Park57 miles

Campus life. Check Grace College and Theological Seminary's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Warsaw's history on Wikipedia.

Know Warsaw?

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

  • Leesburg, IN550 people, 6 miles
  • Oswego, IN (unincorporated)283 people, 6 miles
  • Palestine, IN (unincorporated)1,085 people, 7 miles
  • Barbee, IN (unincorporated)1,464 people, 7 miles
  • Hoffman Lake, IN (unincorporated)382 people, 8 miles
  • Claypool, IN396 people, 8 miles
  • Pierceton, IN934 people, 8 miles
  • Burket, IN121 people, 9 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.