Town · Spencer County, Indiana

Dale, Indiana

Dale is a town in Spencer County, Indiana. It has 1,542 residents. Dale, Indiana has a quality-of-life score of 41 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #9,173 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Indiana it ranks #164 of 353 cities and towns. It ranks best on math scores (high), reading scores (high) and new homes permitted (high). It ranks worst on job growth (low), gyms and fitness centers (low) and mental health providers (low).

41Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #9,173 of 15,651 cities and towns
Indiana: #164 of 353 in IN
Population: 1,542 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 578.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 1816624

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety22#12,241/15,637
Economy45#8,610/15,631
Housing98#346/14,977
Health34#10,274/15,609
Healthcare20#12,461/15,650
Environment34#10,123/15,453
Education57#6,709/15,649
Infrastructure48#8,115/15,650
Community76#3,729/15,651
Leisure & amenities10#14,106/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Dale, Indiana ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Spencer County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Math scores · high3.81
100/100Indiana 3.19United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSpencer County value
Reading scores · high3.57
99/100Indiana 3.08United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSpencer County value
New homes permitted · high40.2 /1k
98/100Indiana 3.9 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.319
97/100Indiana 0.452United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Public libraries · high3.0 /10k
96/100Indiana 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesSpencer County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.0×
91/100Indiana 3.0×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077

Weaknesses

Job growth · low-6.4%
1/100Indiana -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataSpencer County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Indiana 1.1 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSpencer County value
Mental health providers · low55 /100k
6/100Indiana 226 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSpencer County value
Restaurants and bars · low4.5 /10k
7/100Indiana 8.2 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSpencer County value
Bachelor's degree or higher · low10.1%
7/100Indiana 29.5%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Distance to an Amtrak station · high113 mi
8/100Indiana 29 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSpencer County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
63.0% (2015-2019) → 92.2% (2020-2024)
+29 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
47.6% (2015-2019) → 36.8% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Average commute timeWorsening
17.5 min (2015-2019) → 26.8 min (2020-2024)
+53%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Median household incomeImproving
$44,097 (2015-2019) → $61,953 (2020-2024)
+40%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
29.0% (2015-2019) → 22.3% (2020-2024)
−6.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Child poverty rateImproving
13.2% (2015-2019) → 7.8% (2020-2024)
−5.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Dale, Indiana improved on 3 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Broadband+29 points63.0% → 92.2%
Inequality−0.0750.394 → 0.319
Household income+40%$44,097 → $61,953

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Dale, Indiana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.5 min2015-2019	26.8 min2020-2024	+9.2 min	Within the margin of error	3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	7.2%2015-2019	10.1%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	50%
Broadband subscriptions	63.0%2015-2019	92.2%2020-2024	+29 points	Improved	98%
Effective property tax rate	0.67%2015-2019	0.55%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	40%
High school diploma or higher	78.5%2015-2019	82.8%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	2.1×2020-2024	−0.0×	Within the margin of error	80%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3942015-2019	0.3192020-2024	−0.075	Improved	91%
Median household income	$44,0972015-2019	$61,9532020-2024	+40%	Improved	75%
Poverty rate	12.7%2015-2019	7.6%2020-2024	−5.1 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	29.0%2015-2019	22.3%2020-2024	−6.7 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Rent-burdened households	47.6%2015-2019	36.8%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.6%2015-2019	9.9%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	43%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Dale, Indiana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Dale, Indiana in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Dale, Indiana itself moved +12.5 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,542 residents (±341)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

512 households (±104)

Dale, Indiana
Indiana share

Under $25k12%†61
$25k–50k18%†90
$50k–75k32%

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

512 households (±104)

Dale, Indiana
Indiana share

Own73%376
Rent27%†136

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

637 workers (±146)

Dale, Indiana
Indiana share

Drive alone92%589
Carpool4.9%†31
Public transit0.0%0

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Spencer County, the county holding most of Dale's residents.

Spencer County has 423 employer establishments, 211 for every 10,000 residents (0.85× the US rate of 248; 0.93× Indiana's), with 5,132 paid employees at an average annual pay of $54,480. The Census Bureau also counts 1,244 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 423; 1,244 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 211; US 248 · Indiana 226
Paid employees: 5,132
Average annual pay: $54,480; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Spencer County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	33	16.5	1.07×About typical	185	$70,519	106
Religious organizations	25	12.5	2.25×More than typical	110	$18,809	—
Truck transportation	23	11.5	2.27×More than typical	274	$54,464	44
Restaurants and other eating places	22	11	0.60×Fewer than typical	211	$14,872	—
Ambulatory health care services	18	9	0.43×Fewer than typical	124	$55,831	38
Lessors of real estate	17	8.5	0.69×Fewer than typical	51	$43,039	151
Gasoline stations	16	8	2.47×More than typical	111	$25,658	—
Construction of buildings	15	7.5	0.99×About typical	70	$52,529	49
Banks and credit unions	12	6	1.86×More than typical	88	$40,875	—
Building equipment contractors	12	6	1.00×About typical	46	$77,826	14
Services to buildings and dwellings	12	6	0.89×About typical	197	$43,807	96
Insurance agencies and brokerages	11	5.5	1.25×More than typical	30	$59,300	33

Rank places for an industry Open Spencer County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 20,014 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Dale, Indiana: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0; −100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

20.4KFY2017
10.2KFY2018
12.5KFY2019
465.9FY2020
18.9KFY2021
14.5KFY2022
-13.6KFY2023
29.8KFY2024
1KFY2025

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Dale, Indiana, so they do not add up across cities.

Dale, Indiana's figures are part of those of Spencer County, IN ($9,006 in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Dale is mostly in Spencer County.

See federal money in Spencer County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Dale, Indiana is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Mark B. MessmerR-IN-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.9%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Spencer County59100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Spencer County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/1816624

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends