Town · Benton County, Indiana

Fowler, Indiana

Fowler is a town in Benton County, Indiana, part of the Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN metro area. It has 2,360 residents. Fowler, Indiana has a quality-of-life score of 31 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,855 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Indiana it ranks #236 of 353 cities and towns. It ranks best on public libraries (high), drug overdose deaths (low) and homicide rate (low). It ranks worst on restaurants and bars (low), distance to an emergency room (high) and public EV charging ports (low).

31Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,855 of 15,651 cities and towns
Indiana: #236 of 353 in IN
Population: 2,360 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,671.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 1825180

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 70 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.

Safety60#6,313/15,637
Economy21#12,340/15,631
Housing77#3,409/14,977
Health23#12,088/15,609
Healthcare18#12,768/15,650
Environment89#1,669/15,453
Education37#9,816/15,649
Infrastructure14#13,438/15,650
Community33#10,409/15,651
Leisure & amenities12#13,798/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Public libraries · high6.8 /10k
100/100Indiana 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesBenton County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100Indiana 18.5 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBenton County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Indiana 5.6 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBenton County value
Natural hazard risk · low5.1
92/100Indiana 24.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencyBenton County value
Home price to income ratio · low2.1×
90/100Indiana 3.0×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Indiana 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value

Weaknesses

Restaurants and bars · low1.1 /10k
0/100Indiana 8.2 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBenton County value
Distance to an emergency room · high19.0 mi
3/100Indiana 5.2 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBenton County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Indiana 3.2 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyBenton County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100Indiana 1.1 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBenton County value
Primary care physicians · low23 /100k
6/100Indiana 66 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value
Mental health providers · low57 /100k
7/100Indiana 226 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBenton County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
1.3 /1k (2021) → 4.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+247%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Median household incomeImproving
$37,813 (2015-2019) → $53,576 (2020-2024)
+42%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
77.5% (2015-2019) → 85.8% (2020-2024)
+8.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
High school diploma or higherWorsening
89.5% (2015-2019) → 84.8% (2020-2024)
−4.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
31.8% (2015-2019) → 35.2% (2020-2024)
+3.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
56.9% (2015-2019) → 53.9% (2020-2024)
−3 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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, Fowler, Indiana improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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.

Improved1

Household income+42%$37,813 → $53,576

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Fowler, Indiana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.9 min2015-2019	25.0 min2020-2024	−1.9 min	Within the margin of error	70%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.7%2015-2019	16.7%2020-2024	−2 points	Within the margin of error	16%
Broadband subscriptions	77.5%2015-2019	85.8%2020-2024	+8.3 points	Within the margin of error	51%
Effective property tax rate	0.76%2015-2019	0.93%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	4%
High school diploma or higher	89.5%2015-2019	84.8%2020-2024	−4.7 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	2.1×2020-2024	−0.1×	Within the margin of error	84%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4062015-2019	0.4132020-2024	+0.008	Within the margin of error	44%
Median household income	$37,8132015-2019	$53,5762020-2024	+42%	Improved	76%
Poverty rate	13.7%2015-2019	14.3%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent-burdened households	56.9%2015-2019	53.9%2020-2024	−3 points	Within the margin of error	66%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.7%2015-2019	7.9%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Within the margin of error	56%

“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 Fowler, Indiana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Fowler, 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, Fowler, Indiana itself moved −4 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

2,360 residents (±156)

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

983 households (±103)

Fowler, Indiana
Indiana share

Under $25k19%†187
$25k–50k23%†226
$50k–75k31%

Homes

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

Owners and renters

983 households (±103)

Fowler, Indiana
Indiana share

Own77%756
Rent23%†227

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+14.0 points).

† 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

905 workers (±120)

Fowler, Indiana
Indiana share

Drive alone84%761
Carpool8.1%†73
Public transit0.0%0

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 Benton County, the county holding most of Fowler's residents.

Benton County has 160 employer establishments, 182 for every 10,000 residents (0.73× the US rate of 248; 0.81× Indiana's), with 1,214 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,516. The Census Bureau also counts 601 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 160; 601 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 182; US 248 · Indiana 226
Paid employees: 1,214
Average annual pay: $45,516; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	16	18.2	1.18×About typical	67	$58,090	75
Truck transportation	15	17.1	3.38×More than typical	73	$57,795	24
Banks and credit unions	6	6.8	2.12×Too few to compare	67	$56,119	—
Building equipment contractors	6	6.8	1.14×Too few to compare	16	$43,813	14
Gasoline stations	6	6.8	2.11×Too few to compare	32	$41,656	—
Other specialty trade contractors	6	6.8	2.72×Too few to compare	39	$68,692	19
Religious organizations	6	6.8	1.23×Too few to compare	43	$19,047	—
Restaurants and other eating places	6	6.8	0.37×Too few to compare	38	$21,263	5
Ambulatory health care services	5	5.7	0.27×Too few to compare	55	$40,545	8
Automotive repair and maintenance	5	5.7	1.13×Too few to compare	10	$32,400	12
Fabricated metal product manufacturing	4	4.6	2.85×Too few to compare	105	$53,352	—
General merchandise stores	4	4.6	2.58×Too few to compare	20	$27,550	—

Rank places for an industry Open Benton County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 8,774 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: Fowler is mostly in Benton County.

See federal money in Benton 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.

Fowler, 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.

Benton County49100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN67

Other cities and towns in Benton 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/1825180

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends