East Chicago has the highest percentage of renter-occupied housing in the region, census figures released Thursday show.
Renters reside in about 58.5 percent of the city's occupied homes.
More than 55 percent of occupied houses in Ford Heights also are home to renters, the census records show.
East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland said he views his city's percentage of rental properties as a problem.
"When you have a high transient population, it's hard to keep it healthy, hard to police it and hard to educate it," he said.
Copeland said he plans to use federal stimulus money to build more single-family homes and wants to revitalize existing residential properties.
He said the region's most vibrant communities have 70 percent of their residences as owner-occupied and 30 percent as rentals -- a goal for which he plans to strive.
A little more than 67 percent of region municipalities meet Copeland's ideal, a Times analysis shows.
St. John recorded the highest percentage of owner-occupied units in Northwest Indiana and Illinois' south suburbs. About 97.1 percent of the town's populated homes are owner-occupied, census figures show.
Dyer, Dune Acres, Ogden Dunes and Lakes of the Four Seasons also have owner-occupancy rates of more than 90 percent.
"This does not surprise me to see this, especially given the high influx of new residents from Illinois and other places," St. John Town Manager Steve Kil said. "They're not coming here to rent. They're coming here to own."
St. John's population has grown more than 77 percent since 2000, census figures show.
Kil said the town's high percentage of owner-occupied units helps maintain property values and speaks to the stability of the community. He said the town's master plan and construction standards reflect the desire of residents to protect their investments.
"Their home is by far their largest investment," Kil said. "It's extremely important to them to know that investment is taken care of."