By the numbers

Those living in poverty in Terre Haute include:

_ 25.3% of residents

_ 33.1% of children under age 18

_ 33.1% of Black residents Incomes in a median household:

_ In Terre Haute: $37,299

_ In Indiana: $58,235

_ In the nation: $69,994
After more than a century of unpredictably maverick voting, Terre Haute and Vigo County shed that status in 2016 and 2020, blending in with the rest of Indiana as a reliably red community.

Still, life outside the voting booth in Terre Haute remained distinct from most of the Hoosier state in several ways during that time span.

Newly released U.S. Census figures show the Queen City of the Wabash’s 58,389 residents experienced more poverty, married less often, earned lower incomes, lived in older houses and paid lower rents than the average Indiana resident. The bureau unveiled figures from its 2016-2020 American Community Survey on Thursday, aiming to refine its snapshot of Americans’ living situations — a process complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic and political disruptions. Of course, because the calculations only go through 2020, the impact of the past 15 months of the pandemic isn’t reflected. In some categories, living standards here have improved since 2011-2015, but in most cases that improvement lags the rest of the state.

Poverty stands as a prime example of that tempered improvement.

During the 2016 to 2020 stretch, 25.3% of Terre Haute residents lived below the federal poverty level. That’s better than 2011 to 2015, when 27.4% of Hauteans lived in poverty. Yet, Indiana’s overall poverty rate is 12.9%.

Terre Haute’s high poverty rates often get chalked up to the city’s large number of college students, who typically earn lower wages. The more revealing category is children living in poverty, and 33.1% of Hauteans under age 18 are in that situation. By contrast, 17.6% of all Hoosier kids under 18 were living in poverty from 2016 to 2020. Black residents of Terre Haute had a higher poverty rate (35.1%) than Black Hoosiers overall (26.9%), too.

Incomes in general are lower in Terre Haute than the rest of the state. The median household income in the city was $37,299, the Census Bureau reported, far below the $58,235 figure for Indiana, which is well below national median household income of $69,994. The difference between the average American and average Hautean incomes is hefty.

Those dollars stretch a bit farther in Terre Haute, at least with some expenses. Rents are cheaper here.

Hauteans’ median gross rent was $754 a month, compared to the median rents of $844 for Indiana and $1,096 for the U.S. Rents went up locally, though, during the 2016 to 2020 era. The median rent for Terre Haute was $659 in 2015.

Inexpensive rents here may be partly driven by the age of Terre Haute’s housing stock. The contrast between the vintage of local housing structures and those across Indiana and the country is stark.

In Terre Haute, 41.4% of houses in the city were built before 1950, while just 22.5% throughout Indiana come from that era, the bureau’s American Community Survey showed. And, 32.6% of Terre Haute’s houses were constructed before 1940, compared to 16.8% in Indiana and 12% nationally.

On a positive note, home construction in Terre Haute kept pace with Indiana from 2010 to 2020. More than 5% of all houses were built during those years in the city and statewide.

The percentage of married folks living in those houses is lower in Terre Haute than Indiana and the nation.

The block of local residents who’ve never been married expanded from 2016 to 2020 to 44.4%, up from 43.5% in the previous five-year period. Only 31.5% of all Hoosiers fell in the never- married category in 2016 to 2020, as did 33.5% of all Americans.

It’s generally a guy thing, at least in Terre Haute. Among men, 49.3% here haven’t been married, compared to 39.3% of women. Terre Haute also has a higher percentage of folks who used to be married, with 14.5% of adults listed as divorced, topping adults across Indiana (12.3%) and the U.S. (10.8%).

Males also outnumber females in Terre Haute. A total of 1,598 more males lived in the city in 2020, making up 51.3% of the population. That’s the reverse of the rest of America. Women comprise 50.8% of the U.S. population and 50.7% of all Hoosiers.

So, what’s all that tell us? Well, a statistical composite of the average Hautean would be a white male who’s never been married, earns $37,299 a year, drives 17.1 miles to work daily, and owns a house built in the 1930s worth under $100,000. Of course, people living in this community aren’t statistical cutouts. Terre Haute’s a diverse town with four colleges, an evolving base of employers and a workforce ranging from office professionals to teachers, professors, doctors, nurses, hospital staffers, manufacturing managers and workers, farmers, singles, married couples, widowed people, retirees, children, students, lawyers, ministers, nuns, volunteers, artists, inmates and more from all walks of life.

Thus, there’s no “average” Hautean. A Hautean is a Hautean, period.

The census numbers do, though, validate the importance of ongoing efforts to improve the quality of life here, from the Chamber of Commerce’s See You in Terre Haute 2025 Community Plan to Turn to the River and RiverSCAPE initiatives, the 41/40 Arts and Cultural District, housing construction, parks improvements, tourism, downtown activities and facilities, concerts at The Mill and many other progressive ventures.

Those will help Terre Haute truly distinguish itself among other places.
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