Town · Porter County, Indiana

Ogden Dunes, Indiana

Ogden Dunes is a town in Porter County, Indiana, part of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area. It has 1,140 residents. Ogden Dunes, Indiana has a quality-of-life score of 80 out of 100 (very high), ranking #3,069 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Indiana it ranks #21 of 353 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent as share of income (low), lack of reliable transportation (low) and drought exposure (low). It ranks worst on hospital quality rating (low), preventable hospital stays (high) and grocery stores (low).

80Very high

Quality-of-life score: #3,069 of 15,651 cities and towns
Indiana: #21 of 353 in IN
Population: 1,140 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,534.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 1856088

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.

Safety77#3,596/15,637
Economy77#3,549/15,631
Housing72#4,222/14,977
Health79#3,282/15,609
Healthcare62#5,897/15,650
Environment33#10,374/15,453
Education93#1,150/15,649
Infrastructure84#2,493/15,650
Community63#5,714/15,651
Leisure & amenities28#11,307/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Rent as share of income · low17.5%
99/100Indiana 29.1%United States 30.6%2019-2023U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Lack of reliable transportation · low4.2%
99/100Indiana 8.1%United States 8.3%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Drought exposure · low0%
98/100Indiana 19%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAPorter County value
Food insecurity · low6.4%
98/100Indiana 15.3%United States 15.6%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Bachelor's degree or higher · high73.4%
98/100Indiana 29.5%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Math scores · high3.51
97/100Indiana 3.19United States 3.032019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePorter County value

Weaknesses

Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Indiana 3.4United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPorter County value
Preventable hospital stays · high3,988 /100k
9/100Indiana 3,202 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePorter County value
Grocery stores · low0.9 /10k
10/100Indiana 1.3 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsPorter County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.501
12/100Indiana 0.452United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
High ozone days · high6 days
13/100Indiana 2 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPorter County value
Days with unhealthy air · high3.0%
13/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPorter County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedWorsening
1.7 /1k (2021) → 0.9 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−47%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
8.7% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−8.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.0× (2015-2019) → 4.2× (2020-2024)
+41%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateWorsening
0.0% (2015-2019) → 6.8% (2020-2024)
+6.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
22.5% (2015-2019) → 17.5% (2019-2023)
−5 pts4 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.2%
Public transit commutersWorsening
6.8% (2015-2019) → 2.0% (2020-2024)
−4.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B08301US 5.0% → 3.2%

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, Ogden Dunes, Indiana improved on 0 of 9 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 8 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined1

Inequality+0.0760.425 → 0.501

All 9 measures

Change of every measure of Ogden Dunes, Indiana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	36.1 min2015-2019	37.0 min2020-2024	+0.9 min	Within the margin of error	38%
Bachelor's degree or higher	73.1%2015-2019	73.4%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	29%
Broadband subscriptions	92.3%2015-2019	95.2%2020-2024	+2.9 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Effective property tax rate	0.84%2015-2019	0.87%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	13%
High school diploma or higher	99.7%2015-2019	97.6%2020-2024	−2.1 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Home price to income ratio	3.0×2015-2019	4.2×2020-2024	+1.2×	Within the margin of error	15%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4252015-2019	0.5012020-2024	+0.076	Declined	8%
Median household income	$118,7502015-2019	$117,0002020-2024	−1.5%	Within the margin of error	6%
Poverty rate	3.7%2015-2019	3.9%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	41%

“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 Ogden Dunes, Indiana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Ogden Dunes, 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, Ogden Dunes, Indiana itself moved −12.1 points in standing on average over the same 8 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

1,140 residents (±167)

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

502 households (±79)

Ogden Dunes, Indiana
Indiana share

Under $25k5.4%†27
$25k–50k12%†59
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

502 households (±79)

Ogden Dunes, Indiana
Indiana share

Own99%499
Rent0.6%†3

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (+6.5 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

502 workers (±92)

Ogden Dunes, Indiana
Indiana share

Drive alone63%318
Carpool1.6%†8
Public transit2.0%†10

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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-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 Porter County, the county holding most of Ogden Dunes's residents.

Porter County has 3,734 employer establishments, 214 for every 10,000 residents (0.86× the US rate of 248; 0.94× Indiana's), with 55,789 paid employees at an average annual pay of $55,920. The Census Bureau also counts 11,955 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,734; 11,955 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 214; US 248 · Indiana 226
Paid employees: 55,789
Average annual pay: $55,920; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	337	19.3	0.92×About typical	3,825	$69,036	608
Restaurants and other eating places	308	17.6	0.96×About typical	6,344	$20,180	47
Specialty trade contractors	264	15.1	0.98×About typical	2,726	$74,928	631
Lessors of real estate	153	8.8	0.71×Fewer than typical	583	$43,184	1,522
Limited-service restaurants	135	7.7	0.96×About typical	2,840	$18,971	17
Full-service restaurants	133	7.6	0.99×About typical	2,914	$21,781	20
Construction of buildings	132	7.5	1.00×About typical	703	$62,421	368
Services to buildings and dwellings	131	7.5	1.11×About typical	701	$45,335	573
Truck transportation	112	6.4	1.27×More than typical	1,153	$59,635	268
Building equipment contractors	103	5.9	0.98×About typical	816	$68,890	108
Offices of other health practitioners	102	5.8	0.96×About typical	593	$46,570	279
Religious organizations	99	5.7	1.02×About typical	630	$23,060	—

Rank places for an industry Open Porter County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 174,845 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 $270 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Ogden Dunes, Indiana: $0.24 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $270; −100% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.24; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 30%; 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

National Park Service$18970%
Defense Logistics Agency$81.3730%

Top recipients

REGION FIRE PROTECTION LLC$18970%
STANDARD FLUIDS CORPORATION$81.3730%

Spending by fiscal year

410.9FY2017
116.7FY2018
4.2KFY2019
34.8KFY2020
80.8KFY2021
65.8KFY2022
88KFY2023
255.4KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Investigation and security services · 5616$18970%
Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$81.3730%

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 Ogden Dunes, Indiana, so they do not add up across cities.

Ogden Dunes, Indiana's figures are part of those of Porter County, IN ($12.5M 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: Ogden Dunes is mostly in Porter County.

See federal money in Porter 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.

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

House

Frank J. MrvanD-IN-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 92%Missed 2.8%

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.

Porter County74100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN66

Other cities and towns in Porter 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/1856088

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends