City · Greene County, Indiana

Linton, Indiana

Linton is a city in Greene County, Indiana. It has 5,260 residents. Linton, Indiana has a quality-of-life score of 19 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,631 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Indiana it ranks #315 of 353 cities and towns. It ranks best on property crime rate (low), social associations (high) and violent crime rate (low). It ranks worst on arts, entertainment and recreation (low), unemployment rate (high) and adult smoking (high).

19Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,631 of 15,651 cities and towns
Indiana: #315 of 353 in IN
Population: 5,260 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 1,606.1 /mi²
FIPS code: 1844190

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.

Safety62#5,945/15,637
Economy2#15,250/15,631
Housing84#2,376/14,977
Health10#14,077/15,609
Healthcare15#13,274/15,650
Environment37#9,720/15,453
Education52#7,563/15,649
Infrastructure4#14,974/15,650
Community40#9,392/15,651
Leisure & amenities5#14,902/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Property crime rate · low352 /100k
95/100Indiana 1,052 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureGreene County value
Social associations · high16.4 /10k
94/100Indiana 11.8 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGreene County value
Violent crime rate · low68 /100k
94/100Indiana 254 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationGreene County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.9×
94/100Indiana 3.0×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Drought exposure · low2%
91/100Indiana 19%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAGreene County value
Public libraries · high1.6 /10k
88/100Indiana 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesGreene County value

Weaknesses

Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.0 /10k
2/100Indiana 3.8 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGreene County value
Unemployment rate · high13.3%
4/100Indiana 3.7%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Adult smoking · high22.6%
5/100Indiana 17.8%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Average weekly wage · low$903
6/100Indiana $1,251United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGreene County value
Comfortable days · low22.7%
6/100Indiana 24.0%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationGreene County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low41.8%
6/100Indiana 76.2%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGreene County value

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
67.9% (2015-2019) → 81.8% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
18.7% (2015-2019) → 10.8% (2020-2024)
−7.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Unemployment rateWorsening
6.4% (2015-2019) → 13.3% (2020-2024)
+6.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$34,842 (2015-2019) → $45,440 (2020-2024)
+30%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Poverty rateImproving
21.9% (2015-2019) → 17.3% (2020-2024)
−4.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
14.1% (2015-2019) → 10.5% (2020-2024)
−3.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

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, Linton, Indiana improved on 2 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 9 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

Broadband+14 points67.9% → 81.8%
Household income+30%$34,842 → $45,440

Declined2

Unemployment+6.9 points6.4% → 13.3%
Inequality+0.0660.437 → 0.503

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Linton, Indiana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.3 min2015-2019	25.3 min2020-2024	+2.0 min	Within the margin of error	27%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.4%2015-2019	15.1%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	32%
Broadband subscriptions	67.9%2015-2019	81.8%2020-2024	+14 points	Improved	76%
Effective property tax rate	0.89%2015-2019	0.87%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	20%
High school diploma or higher	84.4%2015-2019	86.2%2020-2024	+1.8 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Home price to income ratio	1.9×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	−0.0×	Within the margin of error	81%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4372015-2019	0.5032020-2024	+0.066	Declined	11%
Median household income	$34,8422015-2019	$45,4402020-2024	+30%	Improved	56%
Poverty rate	21.9%2015-2019	17.3%2020-2024	−4.6 points	Within the margin of error	78%
Rent as share of income	29.0%2015-2019	28.8%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	57%
Rent-burdened households	47.4%2015-2019	45.3%2020-2024	−2.1 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Unemployment rate	6.4%2015-2019	13.3%2020-2024	+6.9 points	Declined	2%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	14.1%2015-2019	10.5%2020-2024	−3.6 points	Within the margin of error	80%

“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 Linton, Indiana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Linton, 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, Linton, Indiana itself moved −3.2 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

5,260 residents (±20)

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

2,308 households (±174)

Linton, Indiana
Indiana share

Under $25k29%678
$25k–50k27%†631
$50k–75k14%†315

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,308 households (±174)

Linton, Indiana
Indiana share

Own61%1,407
Rent39%901

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−9.5 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,147 workers (±283)

Linton, Indiana
Indiana share

Drive alone80%1,712
Carpool11%†244
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 Greene County, the county holding most of Linton's residents.

Greene County has 572 employer establishments, 184 for every 10,000 residents (0.74× the US rate of 248; 0.81× Indiana's), with 4,823 paid employees at an average annual pay of $40,205. The Census Bureau also counts 1,956 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 572; 1,956 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 184; US 248 · Indiana 226
Paid employees: 4,823
Average annual pay: $40,205; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	44	14.2	0.91×About typical	209	$56,742	242
Religious organizations	42	13.5	2.44×More than typical	116	$18,595	—
Restaurants and other eating places	37	11.9	0.65×Fewer than typical	584	$16,108	5
Ambulatory health care services	36	11.6	0.56×Fewer than typical	206	$51,966	60
Gasoline stations	19	6.1	1.89×More than typical	172	$23,663	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	18	5.8	1.15×About typical	51	$29,314	41
Construction of buildings	18	5.8	0.77×Fewer than typical	58	$37,190	69
Full-service restaurants	18	5.8	0.75×Fewer than typical	219	$16,767	—
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	15	4.8	1.53×More than typical	72	$60,722	31
Limited-service restaurants	15	4.8	0.60×Fewer than typical	326	$16,291	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	15	4.8	0.72×Fewer than typical	62	$34,984	195
Banks and credit unions	14	4.5	1.39×More than typical	84	$46,107	—

Rank places for an industry Open Greene County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 31,086 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 Linton, Indiana: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
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

0FY2017
3.6KFY2019
-1.7FY2020

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 Linton, Indiana, so they do not add up across cities.

Linton, Indiana's figures are part of those of Greene County, IN ($613.2K 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: Linton is mostly in Greene County.

See federal money in Greene 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.

Linton, 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.

Greene County37100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Greene 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/1844190

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends