Town · Henry County, Indiana

Knightstown, Indiana

Knightstown is a town in Henry County, Indiana, part of the New Castle, IN metro area. It has 2,241 residents. Knightstown, Indiana has a quality-of-life score of 29 out of 100 (low), ranking #11,152 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Indiana it ranks #253 of 353 cities and towns. It ranks best on violent crime rate (low), property crime rate (low) and job growth (high). It ranks worst on adult obesity (high), new business applications (low) and depression (high).

29Low

Quality-of-life score: #11,152 of 15,651 cities and towns
Indiana: #253 of 353 in IN
Population: 2,241 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 2,145.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 1840266

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 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.

Safety72#4,395/15,637
Economy16#13,082/15,631
Housing60#5,971/14,977
Health7#14,558/15,609
Healthcare24#11,874/15,650
Environment71#4,462/15,453
Education51#7,611/15,649
Infrastructure16#13,094/15,650
Community39#9,585/15,651
Leisure & amenities19#12,624/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Violent crime rate · low59 /100k
95/100Indiana 254 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHenry County value
Property crime rate · low504 /100k
89/100Indiana 1,052 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationHenry County value
Job growth · high1.9%
87/100Indiana -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataHenry County value
Math scores · high3.34
86/100Indiana 3.19United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHenry County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Indiana 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHenry County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyHenry County value

Weaknesses

Adult obesity · high45.4%
4/100Indiana 39.7%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
New business applications · low7.7 /1k
5/100Indiana 12.9 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauHenry County value
Depression · high29.9%
6/100Indiana 25.6%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Voter turnout · low53.6%
8/100Indiana 59.4%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionHenry County value
Suicide rate · high24.5 /100k
9/100Indiana 16.1 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHenry County value
Frequent mental distress · high21.3%
9/100Indiana 19.3%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Trends

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

Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
40.3% (2015-2019) → 64.0% (2020-2024)
+24 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
72.2% (2015-2019) → 87.0% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
23.5% (2015-2019) → 37.3% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.6× (2015-2019) → 2.6× (2020-2024)
+65%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateImproving
28.2% (2015-2019) → 20.9% (2020-2024)
−7.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
New homes permittedWorsening
4.7 /1k (2021) → 3.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−34%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k

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, Knightstown, Indiana improved on 1 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 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

Broadband+15 points72.2% → 87.0%

Declined2

Rent / income+14 points23.5% → 37.3%
Rent burden+24 points40.3% → 64.0%

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Knightstown, Indiana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.7 min2015-2019	28.4 min2020-2024	+1.6 min	Within the margin of error	30%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.3%2015-2019	16.5%2020-2024	+2.1 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Broadband subscriptions	72.2%2015-2019	87.0%2020-2024	+15 points	Improved	79%
Child poverty rate	28.2%2015-2019	20.9%2020-2024	−7.3 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Effective property tax rate	0.96%2015-2019	0.77%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	57%
High school diploma or higher	91.3%2015-2019	92.0%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Home price to income ratio	1.6×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+1.0×	Within the margin of error	21%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3752015-2019	0.4602020-2024	+0.085	Within the margin of error	7%
Median household income	$52,0372015-2019	$49,7922020-2024	−4.3%	Within the margin of error	5%
Poverty rate	16.7%2015-2019	22.0%2020-2024	+5.4 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	23.5%2015-2019	37.3%2020-2024	+14 points	Declined	5%
Rent-burdened households	40.3%2015-2019	64.0%2020-2024	+24 points	Declined	6%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.7%2015-2019	6.5%2020-2024	−1.2 points	Within the margin of error	61%

“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 Knightstown, Indiana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Knightstown, 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, Knightstown, Indiana itself moved −23.3 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

2,241 residents (±364)

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

930 households (±159)

Knightstown, Indiana
Indiana share

Under $25k29%†272
$25k–50k21%†195
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

930 households (±159)

Knightstown, Indiana
Indiana share

Own66%618
Rent34%312

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,057 workers (±203)

Knightstown, Indiana
Indiana share

Drive alone86%904
Carpool6.1%†64
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 New Castle, 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 Henry County, the county holding most of Knightstown's residents.

Henry County has 833 employer establishments, 170 for every 10,000 residents (0.69× the US rate of 248; 0.75× Indiana's), with 10,929 paid employees at an average annual pay of $44,225. The Census Bureau also counts 2,724 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 833; 2,724 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 170; US 248 · Indiana 226
Paid employees: 10,929
Average annual pay: $44,225; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	69	14.1	0.91×About typical	403	$51,263	267
Restaurants and other eating places	56	11.5	0.62×Fewer than typical	1,013	$19,049	16
Ambulatory health care services	50	10.2	0.49×Fewer than typical	610	$38,425	73
Religious organizations	48	9.8	1.77×More than typical	240	$18,296	—
Building equipment contractors	31	6.3	1.05×About typical	204	$54,431	65
Gasoline stations	30	6.1	1.89×More than typical	304	$30,408	—
Limited-service restaurants	29	5.9	0.74×Fewer than typical	528	$17,794	7
Lessors of real estate	28	5.7	0.46×Fewer than typical	57	$33,333	231
Services to buildings and dwellings	26	5.3	0.79×Fewer than typical	98	$32,051	189
Full-service restaurants	25	5.1	0.67×Fewer than typical	480	$19,375	5
Truck transportation	25	5.1	1.01×About typical	139	$52,439	62
Construction of buildings	21	4.3	0.57×Fewer than typical	112	$46,089	135

Rank places for an industry Open Henry County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 48,887 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: Knightstown is mostly in Henry County.

See federal money in Henry 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.

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

House

Jefferson ShreveR-IN-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 1.8%

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.

Henry County58100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

New Castle, IN42

Other cities and towns in Henry 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/1840266

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends