What it's like to live in Kendallville
Kendallville is a small city in Indiana with rent below the national average, home prices that remain within reach, county unemployment below the national average, and crime rates well below the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Kendallville deals with household incomes below the national average, college degree attainment below the national average, cold winters, and a car-dependent commute, with few people using transit.
The good
- Rent below the national average
- Affordable home prices
- Low unemployment in the county
- Low crime rates
- Low student-teacher ratio
The not so good
- Below-average household incomes
- Low college degree attainment
- Cold winters
- Car-dependent — few commuters use transit
How Kendallville compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Kendallville
Based on Kendallville's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$1,642
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $32,840 a year
- 47% of Kendallville renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$26,640
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $13,320
- Homes cost 2.3× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▼ 42% below US
$821/mo median rent
Rent here is genuinely low, with median rent around $821 a month. Factoring in local incomes, the value gets even better. Money stretches further here than in most of the country. Home prices here are genuinely accessible, with a median around $133,200. That kind of affordability is rare in today's market.
Median home value $133,200 · 47% of renters cost-burdened
Job market
3.4% county unemployment
Unemployment in Noble County is 3.4%, a little below the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.
Noble County (county-wide)
Safety▼ 56% below US
145 violent crimes per 100k
Safety is genuinely one of the selling points here. Both violent and property crime run well below the national average, the kind of numbers that fade into the background after a week of living somewhere.
Property crime 445/100k · Kendallville Police Department · 2025 data
Getting aroundNear US average
25 min average commute
Commutes run about average, at 24.7 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 9 in 10 workers drive to work.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are warm, with highs around 82°F, and winters are cold and harsh, with lows dropping to 20°F.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Healthcare
1 hospital
There's one Medicare-certified hospital inside city limits, rated 3.0 out of 5 by Medicare. Hospitals in neighboring towns aren't counted here.
Medicare-certified hospitals
Education & workforce▼ 64% below US
13% bachelor's degree or higher
This is a working-class city, and college degree rates reflect that. Trades, manufacturing, and service industries tend to dominate the local economy, which is a strength for some fields and a real constraint for others.
Schools
6 public schools inside the boundary
There are 6 public schools inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 14:1, well below the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is Indiana Dunes National Park (96 miles away).
Bottom line
Kendallville's strongest points are rent below the national average and home prices that remain within reach; the main tradeoffs are household incomes below the national average and college degree attainment below the national average. A year of median rent ($821/mo) equals 17% of the median household income here, less than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit people watching their budget, job seekers (county-wide unemployment is low), and anyone prioritizing low crime.
Other places near Kendallville
All Indiana guides →Moving to Fort Wayne →
25 mi away · pop. 268,589
Rent $999/mo · Income $61,422
Compare with Kendallville →Moving to New Haven →
29 mi away · pop. 15,698
Rent $998/mo · Income $70,970
Compare with Kendallville →Not sure Kendallville is the one?
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