Metro area · Indiana

South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI metro area

South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI is a metropolitan area of 2 counties in Indiana, Michigan, home to 324,538 residents. South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI metro area has a quality-of-life score of 50 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #459 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in Indiana it ranks #15 of 37. It ranks best on distance to an airport (low), distance to an Amtrak station (low) and drought exposure (low). It ranks worst on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (high), high ozone days (high) and depression (high).

50Moderate
Quality-of-life score
#459 of 925 metro and micro areas
Indiana
#15 of 37 in IN
Population
324,538 (2025)
Land area
948 mi²
Density
342.4 /mi²
CBSA code
43780

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety32#630/924
  • Economy48#486/925
  • Housing53#439/925
  • Health46#499/925
  • Healthcare69#283/923
  • Environment8#847/917
  • Education66#311/925
  • Infrastructure87#124/925
  • Community47#487/925
  • Leisure & amenities50#465/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

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.

Metro and micro areas like South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI metro area 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.

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).

Income

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

Homes

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

Getting to work

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

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

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.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. St. Joseph CountyCentral county49272,861
  2. Cass CountyCentral county4851,677

States

The share of the area's residents living in each state.

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. MishawakaPrincipal city51,021
  2. South BendPrincipal city103,085

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. South Bend103,085
  2. Mishawaka51,021
  3. Granger30,321
  4. Notre Dame6,890
  5. Dowagiac5,732
  6. Osceola2,593
  7. Walkerton2,115
  8. New Carlisle1,998
  9. Cassopolis1,834
  10. Ardmore1,810
  11. North Liberty1,775
  12. Edwardsburg1,472
  13. Roseland1,175
  14. Marcellus1,112
  15. Gilmer Park1,055
  16. Lakeville735
  17. Chain-O-Lakes490
  18. Vandalia366
  19. Indian Village97
  20. Wyatt80

Other metro and micro areas in Indiana

Areas based in Indiana, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

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.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M43780