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Porter County, Indiana

Named in 1836 for War of 1812 Commodore David Porter

County Seat: Valparaiso

Largest City: Portage (2017 population: 36,672)

Population per Square Mile: 402.69

Square Miles: 418.20

Go to county's in.gov site

Population over Time	Number	Rank in State	Percent of State	Indiana
Yesterday (2010)	164,347	9	2.5%	6,484,125
Today (2017)	168,404	9	2.5%	6,660,082
Tomorrow (2020 projection)*	179,751	10	2.6%	6,852,121
Percent Change 2010 to Today	2.5%	20		2.7%

*Projection based on 2010 Census counts.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; Indiana Business Research Center

Components of Population Change, 2016-2017	Number	Rank in State	Percent of State	Indiana
Net Domestic Migration	769	7		-1,639
Net International Migration	120	16		9,067
Natural Increase (births minus deaths)	88	35	0.5%	19,482

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Population Estimates by Age, 2017	Number	Rank in State	Pct Dist. in County	Pct Dist. in State
Preschool (0 to 4)	9,097	11	5.4%	6.3%
School Age (5 to 17)	28,380	9	16.9%	17.3%
College Age (18 to 24)	15,361	12	9.1%	9.9%
Young Adult (25 to 44)	42,384	10	25.2%	25.3%
Older Adult (45 to 64)	46,371	8	27.5%	25.9%
Seniors (65 and older)	26,811	8	15.9%	15.4%
Median Age	39.8			Median Age = 37.7

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau; Indiana Business Research Center

Population Estimates by Race and Hispanic Origin, 2017	Number	Rank of	Pct Dist. in County	Pct Dist. in State
American Indian or Alaska Native Alone	639	8	0.4%	0.4%
Asian Alone	2,533	11	1.5%	2.4%
Black Alone	6,976	15	4.1%	9.7%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pac. Isl. Alone	61	19	0.0%	0.1%
White	155,467	9	92.3%	85.4%
Two or More Race Groups	2,728	12	1.6%	2.1%
Hispanic or Latino Origin (can be of any race)
Non-Hispanic	151,510	10	90.0%	93.0%
Hispanic	16,894	6	10.0%	7.0%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Household Types	Number	Rank in State	Pct Dist. in County	Pct Dist. in State
Households in 2017 (Includes detail not shown below)	63,251	9	100.0%	100.0%
Married With Children	13,846	8	21.9%	18.8%
Married Without Children	20,436	8	32.3%	30.0%
Single Parents	5,642	9	8.9%	9.6%
Living Alone	15,273	10	24.1%	28.3%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

Housing	Number	Rank in State	Pct Dist. in County	Pct Dist. in State
Total Housing Units in 2017 (estimate)	68,773	9	100.0%	100.0%
Total Housing Units in 2017 (includes vacant units)	67,777	9	100.0%	100.0%
Owner Occupied (Pct. distribution based on all housing units)	47,702	8	70.4%	61.2%
Median Value (2017)	$173,100	4
Renter Occupied (Pct. distribution based on all housing units)	15,549	14	22.9%	27.7%
Median Rent (2017)	$749	3

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

Education	Number	Rank in State	Percent of State	Indiana
School Enrollment (2017/2018 Total Reported)	28,240	8	2.5%	1,116,556
Public	27,354	8	2.6%	1,053,373
Adults (25+ in 2017 ACS)	113,686	8	2.6%	4,369,451
with High School diploma or higher	92.3%	7		88.3%
with B.A. or higher degree	27.5%	13		25.3%

Sources: Indiana Department of Education; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

Income and Poverty	Number	Rank in State	Percent of State	Indiana
Per Capita Personal Income (annual) in 2017	$49,586	7	109.8%	45,150
Median Household Income in 2017	67,525	7	124.7%	$54,134
Poverty Rate in 2017	10.4%	64	78.2%	13.3%
Poverty Rate among Children under 18	12.4%	78	69.7%	17.8%
Welfare (TANF) Monthly Average Families in 2018	66	19	1.1%	6,032
Food Stamp Recipients in 2018	9,443	13	1.6%	605,854
Free and Reduced Fee Lunch Recipients in 2017/2018	10,091	11	1.9%	522,888

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; U.S. Census Bureau; Indiana Family Social Services Administration; Indiana Department of Education

Health and Vital Statistics	Number	Rank of	Percent of State	Indiana
Births, 2016	1,757	11	2.1%	83,063
Births to Teens, 2016	69	16	1.3%	5,294
Deaths, 2016	1,396	9	2.2%	63,492

Source: Indiana State Department of Health

Labor Force, 2017	Number	Rank in State	Percent of State	Indiana
Total Resident Labor Force	85,418	10	2.6%	3,336,655
Employed	81,948	10	2.5%	3,218,115
Unemployed	3,470	6	2.9%	118,540
Annual Unemployment Rate	4.1	15	113.9%	3.6
January 2019 Unemployment Rate	4.6	18	112.2%	4.1

Source: STATS Indiana, using data from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development

Employment and Earnings by Industry, 2017	Employment	Pct Dist. in County	Earnings ($000)	Pct Dist. In County	Avg. Earnings Per Job
Total by place of work	81,152	100.0%	$4,078,073	100.0%	$50,252
Wage and Salary	64,167	79.1%	$2,906,480	71.3%	$45,296
Farm Proprietors	401	0.5%	$-7,323	-0.2%	$-18,262
Nonfarm Proprietors	16,584	20.4%	$488,960	12.0%	$29,484
Farm	493	0.6%	$-4,432	-0.1%	$-8,990
Nonfarm	80,659	99.4%	$4,082,505	100.1%	$50,614
Private	73,168	90.2%	$3,694,883	90.6%	$50,499
Accommodation, Food Serv.	6,481	8.0%	$142,756	3.5%	$22,027
Arts, Ent., Recreation	1,261	1.6%	$17,973	0.4%	$14,253
Construction	5,209	6.4%	$389,157	9.5%	$74,709
Health Care, Social Serv.	9,682	11.9%	$548,574	13.5%	$56,659
Information	814	1.0%	$46,025	1.1%	$56,542
Manufacturing	10,196	12.6%	$893,004	21.9%	$87,584
Professional, Tech. Serv.	3,879	4.8%	$208,669	5.1%	$53,795
Retail Trade	9,211	11.4%	$274,101	6.7%	$29,758
Trans., Warehousing	Data not available due to BEA non-disclosure requirements.
Wholesale Trade	2,616	3.2%	$202,704	5.0%	$77,486
Other Private (not above)	20,477*	25.2%*	$690,538*	16.9%*	$33,723*
Government	7,491	9.2%	$387,622	9.5%	$51,745

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
* These totals do not include county data that are not available due to BEA non-disclosure requirements.

Residential Building Permits, 2017	Units	Pct Dist. in County	Pct Dist. in State	Cost ($000)	State Cost ($000)
Total Permits Filed	710	100.0%	100.0%	$161,034	$4,583,500
Single-Family	515	72.5%	74.2%	$138,601	$4,038,599
2-Family	12	1.7%	2.0%	1,390	$62,844
3- and 4-Family	4	0.6%	0.4%	$517	$13,000
5+ Family	179	25.2%	23.4%	$20,526	$469,056

Notes: Detail cost may not sum to total due to rounding. Greene County does not currently issue building permits, so it is excluded.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Largest Cities and Towns in Porter County

Name	Population in 2017	Percent of County
Beverly Shores	605	0.4%
Burns Harbor	1,727	1.0%
Chesterton	13,503	8.0%
Dune Acres	181	0.1%
Hebron	3,671	2.2%
Kouts	1,949	1.2%
Ogden Dunes	1,094	0.6%
Portage	36,672	21.8%
Porter	4,818	2.9%
Town of Pines	697	0.4%
Valparaiso	33,376	19.8%