Seven-year-old June McCarthy, center, feels the push and pull of the Sizzler as she rides it with her aunt, Fran McCarthy, last May at the Banks of the Wabash Festival at Fairbanks Park. Terre Haute’s parks-per-capita rate is among the best in the nation, helping the city’s placing in the “2025 Best Small Cities in America” rankings. Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza
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A relatively low cost of living entices some people to call Terre Haute home.
So does the community’s large number of parks.
Potential employers consider those factors, too, when deciding where to locate.
Cities need more than inexpensive housing and accessible parks to thrive, though. Four towns in one Indiana county possess multiple attributes that attract and retain residents, as well as jobs. Carmel, Westfield, Fishers and Noblesville have more prime pluses than most U.S. cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000. They flourish for a variety of reasons, including progressive ideas and preferential treatment by state leaders.
Thus, those four Hamilton County towns are again among the top 20 in the “2025 Best Small Cities in America” rankings by the personal finance website WalletHub.
With its low unemployment rate and high incomes, Carmel rated No. 1 out of 1,318 small cities for the third consecutive year, while Westfield placed fifth, Fishers sixth and Noblesville 19th. WalletHub released the rankings Tuesday.
Terre Haute landed much farther down the list at 1,077th, but the city is climbing. Terre Haute ranked 1,128th last year, 1,137th in 2023 and 1,257th in 2022.
WalletHub annually crunches data on 45 “key indicators of livability,” ranging from parks per capita to housing costs, school-system quality, crime rates and more. The rankings aim “to help Americans put down roots in places offering good quality of life and affordability,” according to WalletHub.
Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun acknowledged the city’s bright spots in this report card of sorts, but also the need for improvement. “We have made substantial progress, but I am not satisfied and am hyper-focused on improving our quality of life, employment opportunities, housing, aging infrastructure and public safety,” Sakbun said Wednesday.
By taking such steps, the city has a better chance of offering its residents better living standards, raising incomes and reversing the decline in population, which currently stands at 58,531. Terre Haute also has to compete with the affluent Indy rim counties to get more residents, employers and amenities. “I think we can compete with anyone, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have some real work to do,” Sakbun said. One particular factor weighs heavy with him — the condition of the aging Vigo County schools. “From a quality of life perspective, our parks are improving and so is housing,” Sakbun said. “But it is no secret that our schools are holding us back. What do those cities [atop the ‘Best Small Cities in America’ rankings] all have in common? They have made substantial investments into their schools including several large referendums.
“The data is clear each and every year,” the mayor added. “Hoosier cities and leaders should start investing in classroom space or else they’ll be stuck investing in jail space.” Of course, the timeworn condition of Vigo County’s high schools, particularly, and many of its middle and elementary schools has been apparent for years. A solid $261-million proposal to renovate and rebuild Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South and West Vigo high schools, and West Vigo Middle School, was resoundingly defeated in a 2022 ballot referendum.
Now, the Vigo County School Corp. is pursuing a consolidation and reorganization plan that would downsize its roster of schools from 23 to 16, with two high schools (North and South merged into one new school), four middle schools and 10 elementary schools. The cost hasn’t been estimated, but alternative funding mechanisms are being pursued. Still, it may also take a referendum.
The “Best Small Cities” analysis gave Terre Haute mixed grades on education. Terre Haute got an impressive 160th of 1,318 cities for school system quality, which factors in standardized testing scores and dropout rates. But a 78% graduation rate put Terre Haute nearly at the bottom, ranking 1,255th. The city’s share of adults with at least a high school diploma (88.5%) also ranks a low 911th.
Two hours east of Terre Haute, the community of Columbus — population 51,970 — is undergoing a $306-million “Envision 2030” renovation of its schools, according to Columbus Republic reports. Columbus ranked a solid 313th in the “Best Small Cities” list.
There’s little more than promotional value in a shiny ranking. What matters is the living conditions of residents in those cities, reflected in the data used to calculate the rankings.
It reveals positives for Terre Haute residents. This town’s best score came in the parks-per-capita category at 33rd best. Sakbun wants more than quantity, though.
“Our parks per capita is high, however the quality of parks needs improvement,” Sakbun said. “Our parks and recreation team is making sizable improvements there like Herz-Rose Park, Deming Park, a renovation for the YMCA, and our neighborhood parks improvement program.”
Cost of living rates helped Terre Haute’s rankings, too. The city was 105th best, out of 1,318 for inexpensiveness. Other high marks included short commute times for work (18.4 minutes on average for 166th best), population share walking to work (6.3% for 86th), work week length (35.8 hours for 73rd) and museums per capita (85th).
The weaknesses included the percentage of low-income folks without a grocery nearby (19.9% for 1,309th), median household income ($41,960 for 1,292nd), population living in poverty (26.7% for 1,257th), percentage of obese adults (41% for 1,237th), population growth (1,189th), job growth (1,183rd) and property crime rate (1,108th).
Sakbun said incomes and population can improve through efforts such as recent job fairs, the city’s relationship with WorkOne Western Indiana agency, as well as the addition of employers such as GATX, Zink Power and Entek, and public transportation improvements. Also, he cited the presence of college students as a factor in low population and income statistics. Nonprofit groups and city policies are also addressing folks in poverty, he said.
As for property crime, Sakbun said the new Safe Neighborhood and Property Crime Initiative aims to reduce that problem.
“Our community has long been plagued with high property crime. The city refuses to sit by and watch this trend continue. Chief [of Police Kevin] Barrett’s focus on proactive policing is a positive step forward,” the mayor said. “I am hoping state government leaders recognize this and work with Hoosier cities to financially assist efforts like the SNPCI.”
And the population slide is abating, he said.
“We have started to slowly reverse that trend and have had some increase in population,” Sakbun added. “This is indicative of the work we are doing to improve housing, employment opportunities and quality of life. We need to turn the corner and really focus in on economic development and schools. Those two issues can help us get back to [a population of 65,000].”
The last time Terre Haute was that big, Larry Bird was an Indiana State Sycamore and superstars performed week after week in Hulman Center.
Let’s close on that point.
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