Town · Tippecanoe County, Indiana

Dayton, Indiana

Dayton is a town in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, part of the Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN metro area. It has 1,168 residents. Dayton, Indiana has a quality-of-life score of 68 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,025 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Indiana it ranks #40 of 353 cities and towns. It ranks best on distance to an Amtrak station (low), natural hazard risk (low) and broadband subscriptions (high). It ranks worst on voter turnout (low), child care cost burden (high) and food environment index (low).

68High

Quality-of-life score: #5,025 of 15,651 cities and towns
Indiana: #40 of 353 in IN
Population: 1,168 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,016.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 1817002

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety63#5,836/15,637
Economy50#7,771/15,631
Housing89#1,637/14,977
Health52#7,449/15,609
Healthcare45#8,683/15,650
Environment88#1,821/15,453
Education56#6,819/15,649
Infrastructure86#2,262/15,650
Community26#11,628/15,651
Leisure & amenities43#8,853/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Dayton, Indiana ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Tippecanoe 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

Distance to an Amtrak station · low4 mi
99/100Indiana 29 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauTippecanoe County value
Natural hazard risk · low1.7
98/100Indiana 24.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencyTippecanoe County value
Broadband subscriptions · high98.7%
91/100Indiana 89.9%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Flu vaccinations · high54.0%
90/100Indiana 47.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteTippecanoe County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.353
90/100Indiana 0.452United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Home price to income ratio · low2.3×
87/100Indiana 3.0×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077

Weaknesses

Voter turnout · low50.4%
5/100Indiana 59.4%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionTippecanoe County value
Child care cost burden · high42.1%
5/100Indiana 30.8%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteTippecanoe County value
Food environment index · low6.5
8/100Indiana 6.5United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteTippecanoe County value
Grocery stores · low0.8 /10k
8/100Indiana 1.3 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsTippecanoe County value
Dental care shortage · high17.0
12/100Indiana 6.4United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationTippecanoe County value
Pharmacies · low1.0 /10k
16/100Indiana 1.5 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsTippecanoe County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,578 (2015-2019) → 1,168 (2020-2024)
−26%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
88.2% (2015-2019) → 98.7% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$53,929 (2015-2019) → $78,289 (2020-2024)
+45%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
13.8% (2015-2019) → 19.0% (2020-2024)
+5.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
8.4% (2015-2019) → 4.5% (2020-2024)
−3.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Unemployment rateImproving
6.0% (2015-2019) → 2.2% (2020-2024)
−3.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%

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, Dayton, Indiana improved on 2 of 12 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.

Improved2

Household income+45%$53,929 → $78,289
Broadband+11 points88.2% → 98.7%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Dayton, Indiana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.7 min2015-2019	17.6 min2020-2024	−0.1 min	Within the margin of error	49%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.8%2015-2019	19.0%2020-2024	+5.2 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Broadband subscriptions	88.2%2015-2019	98.7%2020-2024	+11 points	Improved	62%
Effective property tax rate	0.65%2015-2019	0.56%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	33%
High school diploma or higher	92.9%2015-2019	91.7%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Home price to income ratio	2.4×2015-2019	2.3×2020-2024	−0.1×	Within the margin of error	83%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4142015-2019	0.3532020-2024	−0.061	Within the margin of error	88%
Median household income	$53,9292015-2019	$78,2892020-2024	+45%	Improved	80%
Poverty rate	11.6%2015-2019	12.1%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Rent as share of income	28.2%2015-2019	29.1%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Rent-burdened households	45.4%2015-2019	43.2%2020-2024	−2.2 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.4%2015-2019	4.5%2020-2024	−3.9 points	Within the margin of error	81%

“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 Dayton, Indiana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Dayton, 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, Dayton, Indiana itself moved +8.5 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

1,168 residents (±457)

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

474 households (±186)

Dayton, Indiana
Indiana share

Under $25k17%†79
$25k–50k17%†79
$50k–75k12%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

474 households (±186)

Dayton, Indiana
Indiana share

Own81%†386
Rent19%†88

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

532 workers (±209)

Dayton, Indiana
Indiana share

Drive alone84%†446
Carpool8.5%†45
Public transit

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN

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 Tippecanoe County, the county holding most of Dayton's residents.

Tippecanoe County has 3,857 employer establishments, 204 for every 10,000 residents (0.82× the US rate of 248; 0.90× Indiana's), with 75,889 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,084. The Census Bureau also counts 11,261 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,857; 11,261 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 204; US 248 · Indiana 226
Paid employees: 75,889
Average annual pay: $52,084; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	375	19.8	0.95×About typical	5,854	$76,077	359
Restaurants and other eating places	355	18.7	1.02×About typical	8,558	$18,935	37
Lessors of real estate	231	12.2	0.99×About typical	1,049	$56,378	1,275
Specialty trade contractors	209	11	0.71×Fewer than typical	2,145	$63,036	587
Limited-service restaurants	165	8.7	1.09×About typical	4,152	$17,026	13
Full-service restaurants	138	7.3	0.95×About typical	3,662	$21,347	17
Religious organizations	124	6.5	1.18×About typical	1,311	$25,246	—
Offices of physicians	117	6.2	0.95×About typical	2,631	$103,944	58
Construction of buildings	102	5.4	0.71×Fewer than typical	593	$70,803	234
Offices of other health practitioners	101	5.3	0.88×About typical	722	$43,112	193
Services to buildings and dwellings	95	5	0.74×Fewer than typical	1,099	$31,136	551
Real estate agents and brokers	94	5	1.02×About typical	176	$47,460	251

Rank places for an industry Open Tippecanoe County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 189,448 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Tippecanoe 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.

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

House

James R. BairdR-IN-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 98%Missed 6.2%

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.

Tippecanoe County68100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN67

Other cities and towns in Tippecanoe 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
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/1817002

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends