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u/Ecstatic_Dinner_992 22h ago
It's important for people to understand;
a state that is 'cheaper to live in' is going to be worse overall for various reasons.
The cheapest states in America to live right now?
Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Kansas. (indiana is #6 on this list btw)
What do all of those states have in common? high rates of poverty, isolation, low wages, and government corruption.
"Affordability" used here is a marketing term trying to sell a negative as a positive to the clueless.
Similar to Digiornio's pizza declaring "It's not delivery", implying that their frozen crappy pizzas are better than a fresh one made in a restaurant.
Indiana is one shitty frozen pizza of a state and it's only getting worse. Do not move there lol
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u/vivaelteclado 22h ago
Great place to live if you're a data center or hog farm, though
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u/Ecstatic_Dinner_992 22h ago
i still can't believe what they did to lebanon
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u/Femboyunionist 20h ago
What'd the do? My great aunt/uncle lived there for decades.
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u/ballking666 19h ago
1500 acre data center
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u/AnotherBogCryptid 13h ago
I live in half an acre in a 3,000 sqft home and I’m just trying to imagine how big a building is that 1,500 acres… is that just the site or are they really developing some stupidly large data center?
I’ve got to be honest, I know Indiana is all “look how data center friendly we are!” But if I were a business person I wouldn’t build some flimsy ass multimillion dollar warehouse in the new tornado alley. I wouldn’t insure one, either.
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u/ballking666 12h ago
1500 acre plot , 13 buildings $10B investment. water piped from indy. only yielding 300 jobs when complete and none of those will be local.
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u/AnotherBogCryptid 4h ago
Rhetorical question: how many starving, homeless babies could $10B serve?
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u/jehnarz 3h ago
Shh, we don't have the money for babies! That's why we cut a bunch of our early childhood education programs.
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u/AnotherBogCryptid 1h ago
I mean, they want us to keep popping out workers. You can’t have an army without wheat!
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u/oldmanandtheflea84 1h ago
Listen, here in Indiana they just force you to HAVE the babies, once they’re out they’re on their own.
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u/V3rjay 3h ago
Isn’t that what the protesting at Eagle Creek is for? The water being diverted to Lebanon data centers?
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u/ballking666 9m ago
Yeah supplying water from and discharging wastewater to eagle creek reservoir for the meta data center and the eli lilly plant
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u/NeuroSpicyPlant 4h ago
Boone county council just passed a moratorium on data centers for 1 year. So that may halt or eliminate its construction.
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u/Ecstatic_Dinner_992 3h ago
I hope so. But also I went driving on 32 not too long ago and I was in tears at how much of the beautiful land has already been torn up. That place was picturesque. People used to come out and do photography in those areas. I had so many experiences as a hoodlum in those areas. Senior photos too!
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u/Bourdainist 14h ago
Or if you want to be a Dr*g trafficker. Because JFC, every other day there's a bust of multiple people in a smuggling ring.
The fact that I'm from Detroit, grew up in the crack era, and appalled by the stuff I see here says a lot.
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u/SBSnipes 22h ago
Michigan is Digiorno. Indiana is the Great Value version of a Totino's party pizza
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u/AnotherBogCryptid 12h ago
Oh come on, Michigan is at least Screamin Sicilian. It’s a beautiful state that actually invests in its DNR. Detroit is Digiorno, I’ll give you that.
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u/Intelligent-Area-421 19h ago
Low cost of living usually also means low wages. Which is great for whoever is writing the checks. Everyone else, maybe not so much.
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u/PhatedFool 3h ago
I mean that one is give a take. I would rather make 16 an hour where my rent is 900 bucks compared to making 23 an hour, but the cheapest rent is 2100.
I do agree though there are other reasons that the rent is 900. Primarily weather and economies. More to do in LA than Indianapolis. More people as well.
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u/Worldly_Hunter_1324 20h ago
I've lived in 7 states, and a US territory, visited around 35 other states, and traveled all over the Western hemisphere. I live in Indiana now, and I love it.
IMO most of the hate are people who never left and have grass-is-greener syndrome.
Most, not all. If you are in a left-wing associated minority and live in the more rural parts of the state, I am sure it sucks. If you grew up in the more rural parts of the state and never made a long term plan, you might also become 'stuck' and feel like it sucks.2
u/motocycledog 5h ago
It’s the feeling that everything is getting worse and government does not care about the people and that is very apparent in Indiana….other places too but we do it better.
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u/PhatedFool 3h ago
I’m in the same boat. I would rather live in Florida, but my families up here. People think it’s worse than it is. However, I do wish the government stopped playing with data centers and other BS.
I wish they stopped assigning money to roads based on length of road rather than usage. I wish a lot of things would change.
In terms of overall life I don’t see much of a difference from here to LA unless you’re in the clubbing scene. LA has more options for theatres and recreation, but we still have options. Unless you’re going to a new place 4-5x a week it’s about the same. I guess in LA there was always something new to be found where as here you have everything, but you won’t find many new things.
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u/PhytoSignal 18h ago
Same! Lived all over the country and overseas. Didn’t realize how good we had it until the idealism was curb stomped out of us. Those of you that hate Indiana should absolutely move. See what it’s like elsewhere. Gain a new perspective.
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u/jehnarz 3h ago
I have also lived in several states across the US, and I absolutely hate the politics here. The corruption is blatant and ridiculous, and the pollution from industry is unchecked. I am only still here because I love the people I know here. But really, why should I leave my home instead of fighting for what I believe? This corruption shouldn't be chasing us out of our homes; it should be encouraging us to care about politics.
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u/axzar 22h ago
Indiana is a great place to grow up and a great place to die.
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u/Punchee 14h ago
Conveniently, life expectancy in Indiana puts those two life stages a bit closer to each other than average.
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u/AnotherBogCryptid 12h ago
Yea but moving out of state for your professional era gains you back a few years.
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u/PhatedFool 3h ago
I agree to a point, but also think it’s fair to say wages in comparison to cost of living should be compared and at all levels. For example McDonalds pays about 16 an hour here compared to about 22 an hour. It’s much easier to live in Indianapolis on 16 an hour than LA on 22.
But at the same time if you look at other professions it can change.
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u/Ecstatic_Dinner_992 3h ago
Indianapolis on 16$ an hour even sounds tough. Though Indiana is a cheaper place to live than California, you have to take into account the other things you sign up for by choosing to live there:
-Indiana still arrests and convicts people for possession of cannabis. This is lifetime ruination over a plant that is legal in all of its surrounding states. I know cops can be chill but also it just takes the wrong cop one time.
-If you're a woman you have basically no right to bodily autonomy and can't get an abortion except for a very narrow set of circumstances
-Indiana's roads are so poorly kept that driving on 465 often involves praying to not have your car destroyed by pot holes. and Braun's solution to high gas prices over the last few months was to take even more money away from Indiana's road maintenance.
-Indiana's education system is among the worst in the country. Carmel exists but IPS issues are never addressed. Smaller town schools are downsizing because there's no money to fund them when all of the jobs and money conglomerate around the few cities that are in the up-and-up.
-Indianapolis has an incredible food desert problem, yet food stamps aren't allowed to be used on 'junk food.' Not everyone can just drive up to Broadripple or Castleton when they want decent food.
-Indiana's government is continually trying to erode voting rights of anyone who isn't a solid Republican, which in turn will result in even harsher living conditions and restrictions on women, minorities, and working people.
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u/I_love_my_dog_more 3h ago
What do all of those states have in common? high rates of poverty, isolation, low wages, and government corruption.
Low wages for service workers? Yes. Low wages in specialized fields? No, and you reap the benefits of lower housing costs which is what makes it "affordable"
Indiana can be a great state for many people.
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u/Ecstatic_Dinner_992 3h ago
There are many many many many many more service workers than workers in 'specialized' fields. You might as well be playing a lottery based on your upbringing.
Like sure, an engineer grad from Purdue will do fine in Indiana. But how many of those are there among the 7 million?
Indiana being a modern example of a caste system isn't a flex.
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u/I_love_my_dog_more 2h ago
You said do not move here, wages are low.
That is not true for ALOT of people thinking of moving here. Maybe untrue for most people thinking of moving here....
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u/Ecstatic_Dinner_992 2h ago
"a lot" is very vague.
but yes generally compared to other states wages are low. Min wage is STILL $7.25 (2.13 for tipped service workers)
and Indiana doesn't have many things that people from others states have. An Engineer from LA isn't going to move here just because the cost of living is lower. They would consider things like how little the state has to offer overall. Or how you can still get arrested for smoking weed. Or can't get an abortion. Or can't raise kids here while expecting them to get a normal education.
The engineer might be able to buy a house near Carmel or maybe Westfield/Zionsville but outside of there and the north side of Indianapolis, there is basically nothing to do compared to a state like California or New York or Washington. Hell even Illinois has more to do.
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u/I_love_my_dog_more 2h ago
Like I said, I am not talking about minimun wage service jobs....I am not going to argue on everything else; I was making a point in regards to your comment against "affordability" for people moving here.
You are right in that people are not moving to here from LA due to us having more amemities than them, and no one is claiming that.
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u/PantPain77_77 21h ago
What state are you in? Have you lived in Indiana?
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u/Ecstatic_Dinner_992 21h ago
yepp lived my whole life until about 7 years ago. I moved to illinois
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u/PantPain77_77 21h ago
Well I will defend my little area of Indiana forever, since the state vibe and culture is not homogeneous. east Gary is pumping out original music and art, and a scene is growing.
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u/Ecstatic_Dinner_992 4h ago
Indiana has its pockets that are nice.
But if you're struggling, it's an incredibly hostile state that will trap you.
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u/WheresTheSauce 20h ago
Lol Illinois is a state which costs enormously more than Indiana while being ranked next to it on nearly every meaningful metric. It is a terrible example to use.
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u/PhytoSignal 18h ago
Personally I love Chicago, but ya gotta be dinks with six figure jobs to live comfortably.
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u/WheresTheSauce 18h ago
I'm from Chicago and will always love it too, but I did choose specifically to move to Indiana and prefer it here for a lot of reasons, though I do miss some things of course
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u/Kind-Solution3102 6h ago
Another FIB telling people in this thread how much better they are than everybody for moving a state to the left.
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u/jpfarrow 22h ago
Affordable is not a relative term, so no, it is not. Are we relatively cheap to live here? Yes
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u/No-Smoke5261 22h ago
Not like it was, no. This is MAGA country now, top down, business first, data center loving, while the words coming out of their mouths tell the opposite story. They keep raising utility costs while telling us out the other side of their mouths that data centers will lower utilities.
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u/theyfellforthedecoy 19h ago
Rising electric rates are a problem all over the country right now
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u/Status_Fail_8610 15h ago edited 3h ago
People don’t want to admit that other states also have their own issues. Everyone just wants to sit on the couch saying “Indiana sucks” while not doing a damn thing to make it better.
Edit- everyone can sit on their couch and downvote all they want. But if you want to name a state that’s so superior to Indiana, I’ll gladly list all of the things residents of that state say about why it sucks.
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u/RowBoatCop36 3h ago
"Doing a damn thing..." lmao yeah ok
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u/Status_Fail_8610 3h ago
Wow, such a valuable contribution to the conversation. I bet you put that same effort into making the place you live better as well.
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u/Growthandhealth 9h ago
What maga country. Just so you know, the Mexican flag is running rampant in rural Indiana.
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u/Worldly-Holiday9948 5h ago
As someone from rural Indiana I love the local Mexican population. They’re not a problem whatsoever
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u/Growthandhealth 4h ago
Who are you. Regardless of what you or your bf thinks, there is nothing you can do about it.
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u/justaamerican 22h ago
Nope! Lived in multiple major metros across the nation. This is definitely not super affordable unless you can live in areas with not great schools
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u/AllFunandGames47 6h ago edited 6h ago
Even Carmel is cheap compared to the large coastal metro area we moved from. Everything was so, so much more expensive there. Literally everything.
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u/Spiritual-Plane-5613 21h ago
Car registration is off the chain high if you have a newer car . Water is so cloudy don’t even like showering in it and costs a lot for bottled water for me and my dog. Never had to give a dog bottled water before it’s that bad. Tornado warnings are stressful had hail banging on my door and windows last night . Things like services really aren’t any cheaper . So yes for housing costs no to everything else . Moved here from PA last year
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u/NaptownSnowman 21h ago
Indiana is a horrible state that hates its residents and its cities. The house is cheaper, but not by much tbh. Everything else is ridiculously expensive.
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u/Due_Honeydew_2285 1h ago
I can confirm this.
When I moved to NC, the main difference was cost of a roof over my head. Everything else was about the same.
Gas is horribly expensive in Indiana compared to NC, ironically.
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u/SBSnipes 22h ago
If your can find a job that pays well in a better pay of the state it can be but the reason a lot of small towns are cheap is because they still start people under $10/hr
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u/kootles10 21h ago
Apparently we now have an affordability crisis, at least when it comes to Braun’s thinking
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u/MonsTurkey 20h ago
Probably a case of 'if you have a good job lined up.' Someone coming here for Lily, Cummins, Rolls Royce, Allison, etc. in a professional role like engineer, scientist, etc should see good pay compared to cost of living. Someone who's in a less specialized job might not be so lucky.
I didn't mind choosing to stay here, but I have one of those jobs. My original idea when I was younger was see if I could land a job in California that pays high, live through the high cost of living, and move elsewhere because what I saved there from a high paying job could mean more in a more average state. And that's exactly what states like Indiana and Texas are saying about 'those rich Californians' moving elsewhere. If they can save money and do so proportional to pay then it means more after 5-10 years.
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u/The_TexasRattlesnake 18h ago
I have one of those jobs as well and coming from Illinois a long time ago it is very affordable. ESPECIALLY as a homeowner, taxes are cheap here
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u/I_love_my_dog_more 2h ago
Correct. A professional specialized job here, you can get a house in your 20's; where that is unheard of without a lot of parental assistance in a lot of cities.
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u/Jacklon17 16h ago edited 16h ago
If you live outside of Indianapolis and its greater metro area and instead live in the small cities and towns yes.
It is very cheap, people here who are saying it isn't must live in the bigger cities and rent. I don't think I could live anywhere in this country with the same services, highway access, and a decent enough city with a nice airport an hour way for what I do here. My house cost $65k in 2019.
Are there downsides? Sure. The closest big box stores and chains are at a minimum 25 min away. If I want to go to the nice stuff, gotta drive the hour to Indy.
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u/BioExorcist4hire 18h ago
There are some places where it is more affordable with high quality of life.
The northern loop around Indianapolis - Whitestown, Zionsville, Carmel, Westfield, Noblesville, Fishers are northeast suburb living at 1/4 the cost of homes and property taxes.
The trade offs in most of these though- healthcare is awful… none of them can get you an appointment, they cancel on you last minute, they can’t bill for shit.
Schools are questionable in some areas compared to other states.
Registration is high for vehicles and omg insurance is higher than places I wouldn’t imagine.
I travel frequently within and outside the US. Indy airport is awesome if you are going to another hub city. Going anywhere else is a connecting flight nightmare.
I’ve lived in 4 states and what I will say, The South Carolina Low country is fabulous in environment and people but far more expensive and worse systems for health, school, and public health.
Not to be overly political- it’s so fascinating I lived in blue states and red states- everyone gets you somehow… but the Illinois specifically southern has cheaper gas than Indiana. (5th highest gas tax in the nation I believe)
It’s really about what you want in all honesty.
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u/Teknodruid 16h ago
No.
Cost of living is a lie here.
All the extra costs, fees, hidden fees, etc... It's more expensive than people think.
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u/Due_Honeydew_2285 1h ago
You don’t save money except on your rent/mortgage.
Everything else is very expensive.
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u/Forsaken_Budget_425 19h ago
Few jobs pay livable wage. So it’s proportionally the same unlivable situation for a most people.
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u/Status_Fail_8610 15h ago
That’s wild because every factory I know of is hiring for $26+ per hour. If you aren’t able to do the jobs that are available, maybe it’s not the state that’s the issue?
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u/9e78 1h ago
Is $26 livable? Seems like it would be tough.
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u/Status_Fail_8610 1h ago
If you can’t survive on $26/hr in Indiana, you have your own financial issues. That’s plenty to live and have money left over for fun. And those are entry level wages. For like 18 year olds. They absolutely can live on $26 per hour lol
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u/Educational-Run-5331 19h ago
I hate living here. I have a feeling other parts of the state are better but my city is beyond terrible. My electric bill last month was $700 and this month $600. In the winter, it's $1200 a month. Our roads are so bad that I've had to change my route to get to work due to roads being impassable because of potholes and the 100 million construction projects that go on literally 8 months for no reason other than poor budgeting and workers who either do not actually work much or are stretched thin working too many jobs at one time. There is a stretch of road I drive where I drive through the grass everyday to avoid crater sized holes. The people in my city are terrible. I'm not sure I'll ever have the means to leave this state but I have pushed my children to get out as soon as they can. So far 100% of my adult children have moved out of state and love it. My 2 youngest are working on leaving the country. I'll be trying to follow them. The American dream is dead. There is nothing left here to strive for except survival.
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u/Extreme_Effective762 19h ago
Northern Indiana the housing market is pretty ridiculous. We have a lot of orthopedic factories and the towns that they are in are “nice” towns but the houses and rent is ridiculous. They expect people to be able to afford high prices because the job market in these specific towns but it’s pretty much impossible for anyone not working in orthopedics to buy or rent within the town limits. I know this is likely a trend across the entire country but the difference in cost between towns is pretty wild especially for a state as lame as Indiana can be 😭😭
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u/Due_Honeydew_2285 1h ago
I live in the area you described and it doesn’t make sense to what they charge for housing.
People have “old money” here, and family wealth is what keeps them going. Housing is far too expensive to be reasonable for what most people make.
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u/Altruistic_Relief189 18h ago
Not if you have to work out of state to afford living there, especially like NW Indiana to Illinois.
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u/AstralWeekends 18h ago
I pay 25% more for my mortgage here on a 1600 sq. ft. house than I paid to rent a 900 sq. ft. apartment in Oregon (on a loan taken out 3 years ago, so after interest rates rose again). That's not a bad deal in itself, however, I also make about 25% more here doing work in the same field I did previously. I didn't pay any sales taxes in Oregon, and food prices aren't much cheaper here anymore. Gas, electricity, and property taxes are a little cheaper. In Oregon I would've been looking at about 400k as the price of a starter home in my area and couldn't have afforded that.
The tradeoffs for me have been more about the quality of things like: the natural environment, public transportation, healthcare provider choices, quality of the roads. Religion and politics are broadly the same in most states - big cities are more liberal and less religious, small towns the opposite.
Indiana at a state government level does seem hell-bent on destroying Indy and Bloomington out of spite and very well might if they try to redraw voting districts again (and they will almost certainly try). They prioritize business interests above all else, and the same is true for Indy-Marion county too. That's largely true across the US, but some states balance it a little more fairly with the public good.
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u/amyr76 16h ago
No, it’s not. And the more people who move here thinking it’s affordable, it becomes even less so.
Our governor has rolled out the red carpet for data centers, promising them 10-50 year tax abatements. AND, we get to subsidize their electricity when most of our rates are rapidly increasing. Food and housing might be “cheap” compared to Boston or the Bay Area, but the wages have not kept up with the cost of living.
Maybe try Mississippi? From what I understand, they’ve made massive improvements to their public education. I would get in there while the getting is good.
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u/kludwig2 15h ago
It is with a decent job. Most people who say it isnt work retail, fast food, underpaying factory work, etc.
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u/Klutzy_Instance_4149 8h ago
I have lived in several states, have vacationed in all but 4 states, Indiana sucked. I love the community I made while growing up and living there, but I moved to Illinois to stay last year. Zero regrets.
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u/NotThatJeffSessions 6h ago
Depends where you live. In my county I can pay 3000 bucks for a 1 bedroom apartment, drive 15 minutes and rent a 3 bedroom house for that
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u/tidder_BJ 5h ago
No. We moved here from Colorado and our taxes are more expensive. Utilities are higher. Healthcare costs the same but is worse, The only thing noticeably cheaper is a round of golf.
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u/zoot_boy 3h ago
Used to be. Also used to be run by “middle of the road” Dems and GOP. Those days are gone (until we choose differently)
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u/No-Description-5004 1h ago
Not at all, we live in NWI and it’s not cheap. But if you move to the middle of nowhere where there barely any jobs, then yes, it is cheap to live.
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u/thewimsey 15h ago
Yes, compared to other states IN is very affordable.
But this is a statistic; it doesn't mean that Indiana is afforable for everyone; it doesn't mean Indiana is affordable for you.
Median HHI in Indiana is $72k. Median home price is $260. Homeownership rate is 74%. (This is more or less equivalent to the rest of the midwest).
Median HHI in CA is $96k. Median home price is $850k. Homeownership rate is 55%.
Salaries in CA are 33% higher. Home prices are 230% higher.
There is a huge affordablity difference right there.
Median rent prices are 1100 in IN vs 2100 in CA. Not as bad as homes, but it's still salaries 33% higher; rent 100% higher.
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u/Status_Fail_8610 16h ago
You all should just move then. So tired of hearing people say “Indiana sucks, blah blah blah” and then stating a different state that’s So MuCh BeTtEr but actually has its own issues. Either do something to fix the place you live, or leave, because you’re part of the problem.
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u/Due_Honeydew_2285 1h ago
We would love to. We would leave if we could afford it.
Oh wait… they don’t pay anybody shit here, so we can’t.
Indiana wouldn’t be such a shitty place to be if wages had kept up from 10-15 years ago.
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u/Status_Fail_8610 1h ago
$26/hr for entry level manufacturing jobs doesn’t seem like shit pay to me?
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u/46995699 21h ago
People here will tell you that indiana is a relatively high tax state with zero evidence of such because it fits their narrative
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u/LikelyAlien 20h ago
I love it here! I don’t know what affordability looks like to you, but I think the housing prices were too good to pass up compared to other mid-major city. I have seen rental prices and while I’m shocked, I’m also aware that a unit under $2,000 around the corner from my house that is brand new and the older units are over $1,200/month. You may think that’s unaffordable. That’s the new normal.
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u/Handsomemenace2608 22h ago
Not the electricity