Hoosiers feel pride when one of their own does well. IU football, a previously unknown activity, was discovered just recently. Hence, IU shirts and caps abounded on Hoosier heads statewide as the team kept winning right through the national championship.

But internally, jealousy and disdain dominate. Indianapolis is treated as a burden upon the rest of the state, accused of stealing its growth via manipulations in the Legislature. However, Marion County has be denied, by that same set of Solons, much of what it has needed over the years.

A unified local government was never created. “Independent” Lawrence, Beech Grove, and Speedway continue their parasitic existence. Ten silly towns (including Clermont, Crows Nest, Meridian Hills, and Williams Creek) remain as taxing units without any meaningful functions in the county. Public transit must stop at the county line (except where it may bring workers to selected locations).

Some say all this is racism, rampantly resisting reality. Yes, but it’s more than that alone. It is also anti-urbanism. It is the American nightmare of single family, owner-occupied housing with none of the amenities of urban life.

Despite these conditions, Marion and its eight adjacent counties had 74% of the state’s population growth over the past 10 years. Those 9 counties grew by 11.6% and the balance of the state by only 1.8%.

Among the 92 townships of the Indianapolis area, there were considerable disparities of change. Just 8 townships accounted for 52% of the population growth.

Each of them (4 in Hamilton County, 2 in Marion, and 1 each in Hendricks and Johnson) added more than 10,000 residents. Those townships alone provided more than half of the growth experienced by the 67 growing townships. Another 25 townships, together, lost just 4,800 residents.

Shelby County saw 8 of its 14 townships lose population, but that was offset by 3 townships growing sufficiently to keep the county in the positive growth column.

While we don’t have space for more detail, the essential policy questions remain: What, if any, population policies should Indiana and its counties have on the type and distribution of housing?

Indianapolis and its suburbs have been the story of the past decade. The interstate highway system has been a major part of that story. Other significant cites all had their interstates avoid downtown. Indianapolis has no natural boundaries, but it does have hostile governments surrounding it.

Can Indiana cities and the state develop a consensus on development, or will all those decisions be made elsewhere? Can we find a way to prosper or are we destined to be a flyover state?

Remember, to win IU had to import a coach, his staff, and his team?

TOTAL POPULATION County 2013 Rank 2023 Rank Change Rank Percent Rank
Indiana 6,570,575 6,880,131 309,556 4.7%
Indpls & adjacent counties 9 counties 1,958,195 2,185,659 227,464 11.6%
Balance of state 83 counties 4,612,380 4,694,472 82,092 1.8%
County totals Boone 58,009 72,827 14,818 25.5%
Center twp  Boone 18,102 24 19,030 24 928 32 5.1% 50
Clinton twp  Boone 848 91 950 88 102 61 12.0% 31
Harrison twp  Boone 792 92 920 89 128 58 16.2% 22
Jackson twp  Boone 2,804 52 2,765 56 -39 73 -1.4% 71
Jefferson twp  Boone 1,726 71 1,318 81 -408 89 -23.6% 89
Marion twp  Boone 1,311 82 1,039 86 -272 86 -20.7% 88
Perry twp  Boone 1,080 85 1,170 84 90 64 8.3% 40
Sugar Creek twp  Boone 2,151 60 2,130 62 -21 69 -1.0% 68
Washington twp  Boone 1,570 75 1,293 82 -277 87 -17.6% 87
Whitestown town  Boone 1,122 84 5,887 38 4,765 17 424.7% 1
Worth twp  Boone 2,709 54 4,883 42 2,174 26 80.3% 2
Zionsville town  Boone 23,794 21 31,442 20 7,648 12 32.1% 10
County totals Brown 15,128 15,543 415 2.7%
Hamblen twp  Brown 4,307 43 4,471 45 164 54 3.8% 59
Jackson twp  Brown 4,058 45 3,911 48 -147 81 -3.6% 77
Van Buren twp  Brown 1,903 66 1,997 66 94 63 4.9% 52
Washington twp  Brown 4,860 41 5,164 41 304 47 6.3% 46
County totals Hamilton 282,977 357,176 74,199 26.2%
Adams twp  Hamilton 4,962 40 5,286 40 324 45 6.5% 44
Clay twp  Hamilton 85,966 7 100,101 7 14,135 3 16.4% 21
Delaware twp  Hamilton 31,810 17 35,278 18 3,468 22 10.9% 36
Fall Creek twp  Hamilton 53,126 11 72,177 9 19,051 2 35.9% 8
Jackson twp  Hamilton 10,463 31 11,093 32 630 36 6.0% 47
Noblesville twp  Hamilton 52,080 12 65,404 11 13,324 4 25.6% 12
Wayne twp  Hamilton 8,037 34 11,103 31 3,066 23 38.1% 7
Westfield Washington twp  Hamilton 34,028 15 54,156 14 20,128 1 59.2% 4
White River twp  Hamilton 2,505 57 2,578 57 73 65 2.9% 62
County totals Hancock 70,466 82,013 11,547 16.4%
Blue River twp  Hancock 1,569 76 1,533 76 -36 72 -2.3% 73
Brandywine twp  Hancock 2,604 55 2,489 59 -115 79 -4.4% 79
Brown twp  Hancock 2,585 56 2,510 58 -75 77 -2.9% 75
Buck Creek twp  Hancock 8,448 33 9,461 34 1,013 30 12.0% 32
Center twp  Hancock 26,065 20 29,536 21 3,471 21 13.3% 28
Green twp  Hancock 1,628 74 1,525 77 -103 78 -6.3% 81
Jackson twp  Hancock 1,495 79 1,658 72 163 55 10.9% 35
Sugar Creek twp  Hancock 14,969 26 16,836 26 1,867 27 12.5% 30
Vernon twp  Hancock 11,103 30 16,465 27 5,362 15 48.3% 6
County totals Hendricks 148,623 179,379 30,756 20.7%
Brown twp  Hendricks 11,803 29 14,626 28 2,823 24 23.9% 13
Center twp  Hendricks 12,363 28 13,471 30 1,108 28 9.0% 39
Clay twp  Hendricks 2,398 59 2,182 61 -216 85 -9.0% 84
Eel River twp  Hendricks 1,748 69 1,605 74 -143 80 -8.2% 82
Franklin twp  Hendricks 1,414 80 1,228 83 -186 84 -13.2% 85
Guilford twp  Hendricks 28,767 19 34,566 19 5,799 14 20.2% 16
Liberty twp  Hendricks 5,863 37 6,128 37 265 50 4.5% 57
Lincoln twp  Hendricks 29,255 18 35,919 17 6,664 13 22.8% 15
Marion twp  Hendricks 1,055 86 1,407 80 352 44 33.4% 9
Middle twp  Hendricks 6,312 36 7,157 36 845 33 13.4% 27
Union twp  Hendricks 1,998 62 2,294 60 296 48 14.8% 25
Washington twp  Hendricks 45,647 13 58,796 13 13,149 5 28.8% 11
County totals Johnson 1,269,264 1,361,415 22,187 1.7%
Blue River twp  Johnson 4,977 39 4,814 43 -163 82 -3.3% 76
Clark twp  Johnson 2,503 58 2,916 54 413 43 16.5% 20
Franklin twp  Johnson 20,816 22 21,415 23 599 37 2.9% 63
Hensley twp  Johnson 3,388 49 3,844 49 456 42 13.5% 26
Needham twp  Johnson 6,555 35 7,639 35 1,084 29 16.5% 19
Nineveh twp  Johnson 4,004 46 4,198 47 194 52 4.8% 54
Pleasant twp  Johnson 53,828 10 63,085 12 9,257 10 17.2% 18
Union twp  Johnson 2,748 53 2,878 55 130 57 4.7% 56
White River twp  Johnson 42,977 14 53,194 15 10,217 8 23.8% 14
County totals Marion 982,960 1,044,975 59,580 6.1%
Center twp  Marion 144,508 1 152,457 1 7,949 11 5.5% 48
Decatur twp  Marion 32,583 16 36,742 16 4,159 19 12.8% 29
Franklin twp  Marion 54,881 9 65,800 10 10,919 7 19.9% 17
Lawrence twp  Marion 119,633 4 121,962 4 2,329 25 1.9% 65
Perry twp  Marion 109,878 5 120,986 5 11,108 6 10.1% 37
Pike twp  Marion 78,781 8 82,670 8 3,889 20 4.9% 53
Warren twp  Marion 100,395 6 105,628 6 5,233 16 5.2% 49
Washington twp  Marion 133,440 3 137,942 3 4,502 18 3.4% 60
Wayne twp  Marion 138,143 2 147,635 2 9,492 9 6.9% 42
County totals Morgan 69,217 72,202 2,985 4.3%
Adams twp  Morgan 1,501 78 951 87 -550 91 -36.6% 90
Ashland twp  Morgan 1,918 65 2,044 64 126 59 6.6% 43
Baker twp  Morgan 1,039 87 558 92 -481 90 -46.3% 91
Brown twp  Morgan 13,067 27 13,635 29 568 38 4.3% 58
Clay twp  Morgan 4,307 44 4,254 46 -53 74 -1.2% 70
Green twp  Morgan 3,525 47 3,621 51 96 62 2.7% 64
Gregg twp  Morgan 2,936 51 2,958 53 22 67 0.7% 66
Harrison twp  Morgan 992 89 1,754 70 762 35 76.8% 3
Jackson twp  Morgan 3,440 48 3,679 50 239 51 6.9% 41
Jefferson twp  Morgan 3,275 50 3,594 52 319 46 9.7% 38
Madison twp  Morgan 9,715 32 10,208 33 493 41 5.1% 51
Monroe twp  Morgan 5,002 38 5,786 39 784 34 15.7% 23
Ray twp  Morgan 1,365 81 1,523 78 158 56 11.6% 33
Washington twp  Morgan 17,135 25 17,637 25 502 40 2.9% 61
County totals Shelby 44,511 45,104 593 1.3%
Addison twp  Shelby 20,587 23 21,577 22 990 31 4.8% 55
Brandywine twp  Shelby 1,926 64 2,051 63 125 60 6.5% 45
Hanover twp  Shelby 2,077 61 1,779 69 -298 88 -14.3% 86
Hendricks twp  Shelby 1,022 88 1,557 75 535 39 52.3% 5
Jackson twp  Shelby 1,732 70 1,921 67 189 53 10.9% 34
Liberty twp  Shelby 1,675 73 1,655 73 -20 68 -1.2% 69
Marion twp  Shelby 1,988 63 1,819 68 -169 83 -8.5% 83
Moral twp  Shelby 4,594 42 4,617 44 23 66 0.5% 67
Noble twp  Shelby 1,769 68 2,036 65 267 49 15.1% 24
Shelby twp  Shelby 1,772 67 1,745 71 -27 71 -1.5% 72
Sugar Creek twp  Shelby 1,205 83 1,148 85 -57 75 -4.7% 80
Union twp  Shelby 937 90 915 90 -22 70 -2.3% 74
Van Buren twp  Shelby 1,536 77 1,474 79 -62 76 -4.0% 78
Washington twp  Shelby 1,691 72 810 91 -881 92 -52.1% 92
Morton J. Marcus is an economist formerly with the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. His column appears in Indiana newspapers, and his views can be followed his podcast.

© 2026 Morton J. Marcus

-30-