Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Indiana

Cities in Indiana by unemployed people

Indianapolis, IN had the highest unemployed people of 40 cities in 2020, at 36,768. Zionsville, IN had the lowest, at 592. The median was 1,897. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest36,768Indianapolis, IN
Lowest592Zionsville, IN
Median1,89740 cities

All cities, 2020

Indianapolis, IN: 36,768 personsIndianapolis, IN36,768Fort Wayne, IN: 11,108 personsFort Wayne, IN11,108South Bend, IN: 5,217 personsSouth Bend, IN5,217Evansville, IN: 4,997 personsEvansville, IN4,997Gary, IN: 4,410 personsGary, IN4,410Hammond, IN: 3,732 personsHammond, IN3,732Lafayette, IN: 3,211 personsLafayette, IN3,211Kokomo, IN: 3,182 personsKokomo, IN3,182Elkhart, IN: 2,628 personsElkhart, IN2,628Carmel, IN: 2,486 personsCarmel, IN2,486Muncie, IN: 2,470 personsMuncie, IN2,470Anderson, IN: 2,379 personsAnderson, IN2,379Fishers, IN: 2,372 personsFishers, IN2,372Mishawaka, IN: 2,271 personsMishawaka, IN2,271Bloomington, IN: 2,180 personsBloomington, IN2,180Terre Haute, IN: 2,177 personsTerre Haute, IN2,177Merrillville, IN: 2,040 personsMerrillville, IN2,040Greenwood, IN: 2,015 personsGreenwood, IN2,015Jeffersonville, IN: 1,941 personsJeffersonville, IN1,941Noblesville, IN: 1,934 personsNoblesville, IN1,934Portage, IN: 1,859 personsPortage, IN1,859Lawrence, IN: 1,798 personsLawrence, IN1,798Columbus, IN: 1,711 personsColumbus, IN1,711Hobart, IN: 1,681 personsHobart, IN1,681Michigan City, IN: 1,667 personsMichigan City, IN1,667New Albany, IN: 1,624 personsNew Albany, IN1,624East Chicago, IN: 1,438 personsEast Chicago, IN1,438Goshen, IN: 1,420 personsGoshen, IN1,420Crown Point, IN: 1,367 personsCrown Point, IN1,367Valparaiso, IN: 1,268 personsValparaiso, IN1,268Richmond, IN: 1,245 personsRichmond, IN1,245Schererville, IN: 1,236 personsSchererville, IN1,236Westfield, IN: 1,099 personsWestfield, IN1,099Marion, IN: 959 personsMarion, IN959Plainfield, IN: 953 personsPlainfield, IN953Franklin, IN: 860 personsFranklin, IN860Brownsburg, IN: 779 personsBrownsburg, IN779Greenfield, IN: 744 personsGreenfield, IN744West Lafayette, IN: 696 personsWest Lafayette, IN696Zionsville, IN: 592 personsZionsville, IN592Indianapolis, IN: 36,768 personsIndianapolis, IN36,768Fort Wayne, IN: 11,108 personsFort Wayne, IN11,108South Bend, IN: 5,217 personsSouth Bend, IN5,217Evansville, IN: 4,997 personsEvansville, IN4,997Gary, IN: 4,410 personsGary, IN4,410Hammond, IN: 3,732 personsHammond, IN3,732Lafayette, IN: 3,211 personsLafayette, IN3,211Kokomo, IN: 3,182 personsKokomo, IN3,182Elkhart, IN: 2,628 personsElkhart, IN2,628Carmel, IN: 2,486 personsCarmel, IN2,486Muncie, IN: 2,470 personsMuncie, IN2,470Anderson, IN: 2,379 personsAnderson, IN2,379Fishers, IN: 2,372 personsFishers, IN2,372Mishawaka, IN: 2,271 personsMishawaka, IN2,271Bloomington, IN: 2,180 personsBloomington, IN2,180Terre Haute, IN: 2,177 personsTerre Haute, IN2,177Merrillville, IN: 2,040 personsMerrillville, IN2,040Greenwood, IN: 2,015 personsGreenwood, IN2,015Jeffersonville, IN: 1,941 personsJeffersonville, IN1,941Noblesville, IN: 1,934 personsNoblesville, IN1,934Portage, IN: 1,859 personsPortage, IN1,859Lawrence, IN: 1,798 personsLawrence, IN1,798Columbus, IN: 1,711 personsColumbus, IN1,711Hobart, IN: 1,681 personsHobart, IN1,681Michigan City, IN: 1,667 personsMichigan City, IN1,667New Albany, IN: 1,624 personsNew Albany, IN1,624East Chicago, IN: 1,438 personsEast Chicago, IN1,438Goshen, IN: 1,420 personsGoshen, IN1,420Crown Point, IN: 1,367 personsCrown Point, IN1,367Valparaiso, IN: 1,268 personsValparaiso, IN1,268Richmond, IN: 1,245 personsRichmond, IN1,245Schererville, IN: 1,236 personsSchererville, IN1,236Westfield, IN: 1,099 personsWestfield, IN1,099Marion, IN: 959 personsMarion, IN959Plainfield, IN: 953 personsPlainfield, IN953Franklin, IN: 860 personsFranklin, IN860Brownsburg, IN: 779 personsBrownsburg, IN779Greenfield, IN: 744 personsGreenfield, IN744West Lafayette, IN: 696 personsWest Lafayette, IN696Zionsville, IN: 592 personsZionsville, IN592
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2020
persons		Change on 2019
1Indianapolis, IN36,768+148.1%
2Fort Wayne, IN11,108+165.6%
3South Bend, IN5,217+168%
4Evansville, IN4,997+154.8%
5Gary, IN4,410+136.6%
6Hammond, IN3,732+95.4%
7Lafayette, IN3,211+216.7%
8Kokomo, IN3,182+190.1%
9Elkhart, IN2,628+150.8%
10Carmel, IN2,486+78.3%
11Muncie, IN2,470+97.4%
12Anderson, IN2,379+144.3%
13Fishers, IN2,372+82.9%
14Mishawaka, IN2,271+144.7%
15Bloomington, IN2,180+64.8%
16Terre Haute, IN2,177+83.2%
17Merrillville, IN2,040+109.7%
18Greenwood, IN2,015+120.7%
19Jeffersonville, IN1,941+174.2%
20Noblesville, IN1,934+108%
21Portage, IN1,859+128.4%
22Lawrence, IN1,798+122%
23Columbus, IN1,711+159.6%
24Hobart, IN1,681+108.8%
25Michigan City, IN1,667+177.8%
26New Albany, IN1,624+165.4%
27East Chicago, IN1,438+113%
28Goshen, IN1,420+163%
29Crown Point, IN1,367+145.4%
30Valparaiso, IN1,268+118.6%
31Richmond, IN1,245+107.8%
32Schererville, IN1,236+115%
33Westfield, IN1,099+76.4%
34Marion, IN959+91%
35Plainfield, IN953+92.5%
36Franklin, IN860+140.9%
37Brownsburg, IN779+93.8%
38Greenfield, IN744n/a
39West Lafayette, IN696+19.4%
40Zionsville, IN592+59.1%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Indiana by unemployed people, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Indiana by unemployed people, 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/indiana-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Indiana by unemployed people, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/indiana-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Indiana by unemployed people, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/indiana-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_indiana_by_2020,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Indiana by unemployed people, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/indiana-cities?period=2020. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Indiana by unemployed people, 2020
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/indiana-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/indiana-cities?period=2020.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Indiana by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Indianapolis, IN, with 36,768 in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Zionsville, IN, with 592 in 2020.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Indiana: more rankings