Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety51#7,697/15,637
Economy12#13,785/15,631
Housing82#2,695/14,977
Health33#10,385/15,609
Healthcare35#10,105/15,650
Environment45#8,491/15,453
Education47#8,302/15,649
Infrastructure13#13,567/15,650
Community57#6,697/15,651
Leisure & amenities36#9,945/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Preventable hospital stays · low1,472 /100k
97/100Indiana 3,202 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePerry County value
Public libraries · high1.5 /10k
87/100Indiana 0.6 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesPerry County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Indiana 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePerry County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPerry County value
Median Air Quality Index · low36
82/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPerry County value
Drought exposure · low8%
81/100Indiana 19%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAPerry County value

Weaknesses

New business applications · low5.9 /1k
0/100Indiana 12.9 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauPerry County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high123 mi
7/100Indiana 29 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauPerry County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.5 /10k
8/100Indiana 3.2 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyPerry County value
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Indiana 3.4United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPerry County value
Broadband subscriptions · low83.9%
9/100Indiana 89.9%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Job growth · low-2.5%
9/100Indiana -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataPerry County value

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
75.3% (2015-2019) → 83.9% (2020-2024)
+8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateWorsening
15.4% (2015-2019) → 22.4% (2020-2024)
+6.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Child poverty rateWorsening
25.3% (2015-2019) → 30.9% (2020-2024)
+5.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Average commute timeWorsening
18.0 min (2015-2019) → 22.3 min (2020-2024)
+24%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Median household incomeImproving
$44,809 (2015-2019) → $52,949 (2020-2024)
+18%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.3× (2015-2019) → 2.6× (2020-2024)
+16%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

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, Tell City, Indiana improved on 2 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 13 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+8.6 points75.3% → 83.9%
Household income+18%$44,809 → $52,949

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of Tell City, Indiana between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.0 min2015-2019	22.3 min2020-2024	+4.3 min	Within the margin of error	13%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.0%2015-2019	16.8%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	26%
Broadband subscriptions	75.3%2015-2019	83.9%2020-2024	+8.6 points	Improved	53%
Child poverty rate	25.3%2015-2019	30.9%2020-2024	+5.6 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Effective property tax rate	0.78%2015-2019	0.77%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	16%
High school diploma or higher	91.2%2015-2019	92.8%2020-2024	+1.6 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	2.6×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	57%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3982015-2019	0.4372020-2024	+0.039	Within the margin of error	21%
Median household income	$44,8092015-2019	$52,9492020-2024	+18%	Improved	29%
Poverty rate	15.4%2015-2019	22.4%2020-2024	+6.9 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	24.7%2015-2019	25.3%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	50%
Rent-burdened households	39.0%2015-2019	40.6%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	50%
Unemployment rate	3.4%2015-2019	5.3%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	18%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.4%2015-2019	5.9%2020-2024	−1.5 points	Within the margin of error	64%

“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 Tell City, Indiana five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Tell City, 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, Tell City, Indiana itself moved −8.9 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

7,505 residents (±26)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69
50–59
40–49†
30–39
20–29
10–19
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Under 10 women (−3.0 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

7,505 residents (±26)

Tell City, Indiana
Indiana share

White93%6,962
Black1.3%†98
Hispanic or Latino1.5%†109

Education

5,420 residents (±177)

Tell City, Indiana
Indiana share

No high school diploma7.2%†388
High school or GED42%2,264
Some college25%1,331

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

3,492 households (±174)

Tell City, Indiana
Indiana share

Under $25k29%1,019
$25k–50k19%664
$50k–75k17%604
$75k–100k13%460
$100k–150k16%542
$150k–200k3.4%†120
$200k or more2.4%†83

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $25k–50k (−9.1 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

3,492 households (±174)

Tell City, Indiana
Indiana share

Own65%2,282
Rent35%1,210

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

1,162 households (±186)

Tell City, Indiana
Indiana share

Under $75062%716
$750–1,00013%†156
$1,000–1,50018%†205

Home values

2,282 homes (±186)

Tell City, Indiana
Indiana share

Under $150k54%1,238
$150k–250k33%754
$250k–400k11%†240

Age of homes

3,754 homes (±154)

Tell City, Indiana
Indiana share

2010 or later3.7%†140
2000–20094.3%†162
1980–199921%795

Size of homes

3,754 homes (±154)

Tell City, Indiana
Indiana share

Studio2.9%†110
1 bedroom14%516
2 bedrooms26%993

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

3,466 workers (±274)

Tell City, Indiana
Indiana share

Drive alone87%3,027
Carpool6.3%†217
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.2%†6
Bike0.4%†13
Work from home4.4%†152
Other1.5%†51

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Carpool (−6.6 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

3,314 workers (±286)

Tell City, Indiana
Indiana share

Under 15 min51%1,690
15–29 min19%614
30–44 min18%583

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Perry County, the county holding most of Tell City's residents.

Perry County has 356 employer establishments, 185 for every 10,000 residents (0.75× the US rate of 248; 0.82× Indiana's), with 5,380 paid employees at an average annual pay of $51,327. The Census Bureau also counts 956 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 356; 956 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 185; US 248 · Indiana 226
Paid employees: 5,380
Average annual pay: $51,327; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	31	16.1	0.88×About typical	537	$15,093	8
Specialty trade contractors	26	13.5	0.87×About typical	172	$56,750	79
Ambulatory health care services	25	13	0.62×Fewer than typical	153	$56,810	27
Full-service restaurants	17	8.8	1.15×About typical	225	$13,956	—
Limited-service restaurants	12	6.2	0.78×Fewer than typical	301	$15,355	6
Religious organizations	12	6.2	1.13×About typical	38	$16,289	—
Building equipment contractors	11	5.7	0.95×About typical	99	$67,495	22
Offices of physicians	11	5.7	0.88×About typical	39	$44,128	4
Gasoline stations	10	5.2	1.61×More than typical	57	$27,930	—
Lessors of real estate	10	5.2	0.42×Fewer than typical	31	$24,742	107
Truck transportation	10	5.2	1.03×About typical	46	$37,587	27
Construction of buildings	9	4.7	0.62×Too few to compare	39	$48,923	44

Rank places for an industry Open Perry County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 19,210 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 $7,745 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Tell City, Indiana: $1.03 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $7,745; −8.7% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1.03; US $1,995
Sole-source: 2.1%; US 30%
Single offer: 22%; 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

Forest Service$7,745100%

Top recipients

DAVID E KNIGHT$1,80323%
OMNI EARTHWORKS LLC$1,62121%
AC MOTORSPORTS LLC$1,55620%
K & K DIRTWORKS, INC.$1,01213%
WESTLAMB, LLC$88811%
UNIVERSAL DESIGN ASSOCIATES, INC$7019.1%
JWILCO ENTERPRISES LLC$1642.1%
ECO LOGIC LLC$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

16.6KFY2017
23.3KFY2018
9.7KFY2019
7.9KFY2020
10.8KFY2021
17.5KFY2022
25.1KFY2023
26.4KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$2,82636%
Highway, street, and bridge construction · 2373$2,49832%
Other motor vehicle dealers · 4412$1,55620%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$7019.1%
Waste collection · 5621$1642.1%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 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 Tell City, Indiana, so they do not add up across cities.

Tell City, Indiana's figures are part of those of Perry County, IN ($1.2M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.6% of that total.

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

See federal money in Perry 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.

Tell City, 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.

Perry County53100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Perry 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/1875248

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends