What is the cost of living in Evansville?

Evansville has a Regional Price Parity (RPP) of 91.5, where 100 represents the national average. Housing costs index at 66.7, which is below the national average. The average 2-bedroom rent is $1,113/month.

What is the median salary in Evansville?

The median salary in Evansville is $61,998 annually (mean: $65,360). Top occupations include Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand.

How safe is Evansville?

The violent crime rate in the Evansville area is 308 per 100,000 population (state-level data). Property crime rate is 1321 per 100K.

What are the schools like in Evansville?

The state of IN has 1,865 schools (state-level data, no metro-level federal count exists) with an average student-teacher ratio of 15.2:1. About 53.1% are Title I schools. Charter schools make up 6.5% of all schools.

How much does childcare cost in Evansville?

Childcare cost data is not currently available for Evansville.

Is Evansville a good place to relocate?

Evansville has a Life Score of 52.1/100 (D), based on 6 of 7 available dimensions among cost of living, wages, rent, crime, schools, childcare, and environment (missing dims omitted, weights renormalized). This is a middle-of-the-pack score, where the composite lands for most US metros; look at individual dimensions to see the real trade-offs.

Where does Evansville sit among US metros on LiveAbility?

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite, Evansville ranks #132 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/livability listing. See /methodology#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.

Relocation profile · Federal data

Evansville, IN

BEA RPP 91.5 sits mid-pack (#131 of 387 metros); cost is not the extreme signal here.

Compiled by PlainRelocate · June 15, 2026

91.5
Cost index (US=100): $1,113
2BR rent / mo: $61,998
Median salary: 54.8
LiveAbility Score

The verdict

As of June 2026, Evansville ranks #132 of 387 US metros on the LiveAbility Score (54.8/100), with its strongest marks in housing and low hazard.

#132
of 387 US metros · Above median: 6,924,275
metro-area population: 308
violent crimes per 100K (state-level): 1,865
schools in the state (NCES)

Weakest dimension: air quality (37/100). Weigh every dimension against your own priorities, use the City Finder to re-rank by what matters to you.

According to PlainRelocate's LiveAbility composite (BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, EPA, NOAA, and FEMA inputs), Evansville ranks #132 of 387 scored US metros by LiveAbility Score (highest score = #1). Cost-of-living index 91.5 (100 = national average), median 2-bedroom rent $1,113/mo, median salary $61,998; LiveAbility Score 54.8/100, strongest in housing and low hazard.

Signature: BEA RPP 91.5 sits mid-pack (#131 of 387 metros); cost is not the extreme signal here.

Purchasing power sits mid-band: BEA RPP 91.5 between corpus terciles 91.5 and 97.0. Median 2BR rent $1,113/mo.

LiveAbility 54.8/100 keeps Evansville in the middle third (#132 of 387).

BLS OEWS total employment in the Evansville area is 128,000.

Evansville vs all US metros by LiveAbility Score

Where this metro's LiveAbility Score falls among every scored US metro (composite placement, not a desirability verdict)

55 Top 34% higher than 66% of 387 US metros

Metros banded by LiveAbility Score (0–100)

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainRelocate LiveAbility Score · June 2026

Evansville housing and rent

HUD Fair Market Rents for the Evansville MSA; housing RPP 66.7 (100 = national average); 2BR $1,113/mo.

Studio

$853

/month

1 Bedroom

$860

/month

2 Bedroom

$1,113

/month

3 Bedroom

$1,370

/month

4 Bedroom

$1,539

/month

Evansville wages and employment

Evansville posts 128,000 total employment with median salary $61,998.

Median Salary

$61,998

Mean Salary

$65,360

Total Employment

128,000

Top Occupations by Employment

Occupation	Median Salary
Fast Food and Counter Workers	$27,930
Retail Salespersons	$30,130
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	$42,170
Registered Nurses	$83,820
Office Clerks, General	$41,190

Schools & Education

State-level education data for the Evansville area from NCES.

Schools

1,865

Enrollment

1,033,761

Student:Teacher

15.2:1

Title I %

53.1%

Life Score Breakdown

Evansville's composite Life Score is 52.1/100 (D), computed across 6 of 7 dimensions (missing dims omitted; remaining weights renormalized).

Cost

66/100

Strong

Wages

37/100

Below average

Rent

78/100

Strong

Crime

50/100

Average

Schools

55/100

Above average

Environment

16/100

Bottom decile

LiveAbility Score

View full rankings →

Evansville ranks #132 out of 387 metros with a LiveAbility Score of 54.8/100 - a composite of 8 of 8 quality-of-life dimensions from federal data. Customize the weights to match your priorities →

Strongest dimension: Housing (78/100)

Housing

78
Low hazard

74
Cost of living

66
Safety

50
Schools

45
Climate

39
Job market

37
Air quality

37

What this shows Evansville's strongest dimensions are housing and low hazard; its weakest among scored dims is air quality at 37/100. Default weights: cost 18%, jobs & housing 15% each, safety & schools 12%, air & hazard 10%, climate 8%.

Compare Evansville to

Charleston-North Charleston Charleston Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Charlottesville Chattanooga Cheyenne

Metros near Evansville on cost, LiveAbility, or wages

Nearest out-of-state neighbors to Evansville on BEA RPP, LiveAbility, or BLS median salary, a different lens than the size-ranked list.

Similar cost of living (BEA RPP)

Similar LiveAbility score

† No air quality reading on file for this metro, so its score is built from fewer than all 8 dimensions: the missing dimension is omitted and the remaining weights renormalized. It is not directly comparable with a full 8-dimension score.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026

Evansville cost figures follow BEA Regional Price Parities and HUD Fair Market Rents; Evansville wages and LiveAbility inputs follow BLS OEWS plus the federal sources listed in methodology. This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Scores are federal-data percentiles, not a move recommendation. How this data is sourced.

Verify with BEA → · Verify with BLS → · Verify with HUD → · Verify with NOAA → · Verify with FEMA → · Verify with Census →

Thinking about Evansville?

Evansville in numbers: a $61,998 median salary, a 91.5 cost index and a LiveAbility rank of #132 of 387.

Check how Evansville's salary and cost figures land on your own budget. Salary calculator
Line Evansville up against another city, dimension by dimension. Compare Evansville
Abilene is the nearest related metro in this corpus, and the two are easy to compare. Abilene profile
A cheaper cost index and a higher LiveAbility score don't always point the same direction -- here's how to weigh the trade-off. Cost vs quality guide

These cost, salary and score figures are federal-data percentiles, not a recommendation to move.