St. John Actually The Most Affluent in NWI? (Valparaiso, Schererville: middle-class, fit in)

[svillechris]

Based on the most current City-Data information as of 2008 (yes it's outdated, but it's the best I have to work with), it appears as though St. John is actually the most affluent town in Northwest Indiana. I feel the perception is that Munster has highest earning families and the highest property values. However, this does not appear to be the case. Here is the breakdown of average household income and property values from CD information for each of the towns in NWI that are generally accepted as the more affluent areas of our region:

Saint John:
Average Household Income - $85,603
Average Property Value - $256,411

Munster:
Average Household Income - $75,847
Average Property Value - $240,517

Schererville:
Average Household Income - $71,049
Average Property Value - $233,019

Dyer:
Average Household Income - $75,609
Average Property Value - $211,427

Valparaiso:
Average Household Income - $53,579
Average Property Value - $171,466

Chesterton:
Average Household Income - $64,963
Average Property Value - $188,187

[Mustang219]

Adding in two more towns that fit in as well:

Winfield:
Average Household Income - $78,722
Average Property Value - $276,504

Crown Point:
Average Household Income - $63,429
Average Property Value - $186,385

[svillechris]

Thanks for the additions Mustang. The reason I didn't add in Winfield is due to the extremely small population. If we're using average as the statistic for comparison, and the sample size is quite small (under 5k people in Winfield), then just a few extremely expensive houses would really skew that to the upside.

Similarly, Munster and Schererville have roughly twice the population of St. John. So that being said, I think it is even more impressive for those two towns to have nearly 30,000 residents and still pretty high incomes and house values.

[Chuckity]

I think Munster's dragged down by the smaller & older single family homes - and I would venture to say that McMansions are much more the norm in St. John than older, smaller houses.

As for Winfield, I think ALL of Winfield is newer housing , which equals higher property values.

I would say though, that if you took all of the homes in Munster & St. John that were built in the last 10 years, Munster's have a higher value.

[Northwest Indiana]

As far as housing goes, I would say that if we took two identical homes, same age, finish, everything, the one in Munster will still be a bit more expensive than the one in Saint John.

Having said this, I would agree with Chuckity that the fact that the majority of housing stock in Saint John now is newer upscale construction skews the average property value higher than that of Munster's (with Munster having more smaller, older homes than Saint John that are valued less than newer homes).

Overall, I would say that due to the newness and smaller population of Saint John, there is probably a higher proportion of upper-middle class residents to middle-class residents in Saint John than in Munster. Also, if someone's main priority is getting "the newest house for the least cost" and it is between Munster and Saint John, Saint John would probably win that fight. The homes itself may be worth about the same, but the land in Munster may put it ahead in value.

As far as incomes go, I think that even after the census, the average income in Saint John will still be higher than in Munster. When it comes to wealth, that may be a different story. Munster is known to be relatively more "old money" and Saint John more "new money" (this is all relative to northwest Indiana). So in terms of net worth, Munster may still be a bit higher. This is just an educated guess. Most of these questions will probably be answered after the 2010 census comes out.

IMO, I would say that Saint John is the highest income town in NWI and Munster is the wealthiest town in NWI.

[Chuckity]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

IMO, I would say that Saint John is the highest income town in NWI and Munster is the wealthiest town in NWI.

Good point - and I agree.

[svillechris]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

As far as housing goes, I would say that if we took two identical homes, same age, finish, everything, the one in Munster will still be a bit more expensive than the one in Saint John.

Having said this, I would agree with Chuckity that the fact that the majority of housing stock in Saint John now is newer upscale construction skews the average property value higher than that of Munster's (with Munster having more smaller, older homes than Saint John that are valued less than newer homes).

Overall, I would say that due to the newness and smaller population of Saint John, there is probably a higher proportion of upper-middle class residents to middle-class residents in Saint John than in Munster. Also, if someone's main priority is getting "the newest house for the least cost" and it is between Munster and Saint John, Saint John would probably win that fight. The homes itself may be worth about the same, but the land in Munster may put it ahead in value.

As far as incomes go, I think that even after the census, the average income in Saint John will still be higher than in Munster. When it comes to wealth, that may be a different story. Munster is known to be relatively more "old money" and Saint John more "new money" (this is all relative to northwest Indiana). So in terms of net worth, Munster may still be a bit higher. This is just an educated guess. Most of these questions will probably be answered after the 2010 census comes out.

IMO, I would say that Saint John is the highest income town in NWI and Munster is the wealthiest town in NWI.

Very good points and I would agree with you as well. Speaking of, does anyone know when the results of the 2010 census will be published? This data that CD is currently using as of 2008, although only 2 years old, I feel may be very outdated. Unfortunately, I fear that the average home prices will be a good bit lower than they were in 2008.

[hannspree]

What about Highland? Both Highland and Griffith were nice places to live at one point in time. (the 80's)

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by svillechris

Very good points and I would agree with you as well. Speaking of, does anyone know when the results of the 2010 census will be published? This data that CD is currently using as of 2008, although only 2 years old, I feel may be very outdated. Unfortunately, I fear that the average home prices will be a good bit lower than they were in 2008.

They are supposed to be released sometime in December I believe.

[svillechris]

Originally Posted by hannspree

What about Highland? Both Highland and Griffith were nice places to live at one point in time. (the 80's)

Respectfully, Highland is not considered one of the affluent towns of the area, and therefore I did not include it in my original post. Griffith is even less affluent than Highland. From past experience I agree Highland was a great place to live in the 80s and 90s, but, it no longer is considered among the beat towns in the region. Griffith, on the other hand, is widely considered to be on the decline.