East Chicago vs Hobart

A side-by-side comparison of East Chicago and Hobart: population, income, housing, and more.

East Chicago and Hobart are places in Indiana. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Hobart has the higher population (29,646 vs 26,158 in East Chicago). Hobart has the higher median household income ($71,680 vs $41,071 in East Chicago). Hobart has the higher median home value ($203,400 vs $92,400 in East Chicago).

Population, income & housing

	East Chicago	Hobart
Population	26,158	29,646
Median age	36.5 yrs	38.6 yrs
Median household income	$41,071	$71,680
Median home value	$92,400	$203,400
Median gross rent	$820	$1,174
Housing units	12,429	12,818
Homeownership rate	44.1%	70.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.9%	22.6%
Unemployment rate	7.9%	4.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	East Chicago	Hobart
Population	28,201 → 26,158 (-7.2%)	28,049 → 29,646 (+5.7%)
Median household income	$32,839 → $41,071 (+25.1%)	$58,829 → $71,680 (+21.8%)
Median home value	$74,500 → $92,400 (+24.0%)	$142,700 → $203,400 (+42.5%)
Median gross rent	$686 → $820 (+19.5%)	$954 → $1,174 (+23.1%)

East Chicago

Population

28,20126,158

Median household income

$32,839$41,071

Median home value

$74,500$92,400

Median gross rent

$686$820

Hobart

Population

28,04929,646

Median household income

$58,829$71,680

Median home value

$142,700$203,400

Median gross rent

$954$1,174

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	East Chicago	Hobart
Under 5	6.1%	5.0%
5 to 17	19.7%	16.8%
18 to 24	9.2%	8.6%
25 to 34	12.4%	14.2%
35 to 44	13.7%	15.0%
45 to 54	12.9%	13.0%
55 to 64	11.1%	12.6%
65 to 74	8.6%	8.8%
75 and over	6.2%	5.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	East Chicago	Hobart
White (non-Hispanic)	6.6%	65.6%
Black or African American	36.4%	14.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.1%	1.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.1%
Two or more races	0.3%	1.8%
Hispanic or Latino	56.5%	16.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	East Chicago	Hobart
No high school diploma	26.3%	5.8%
High school graduate	39.7%	40.4%
Some college or associate's	24.1%	31.2%
Bachelor's degree	6.5%	17.2%
Graduate or professional degree	3.4%	5.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	East Chicago	Hobart
Drove alone	75.7%	89.9%
Carpooled	16.3%	5.4%
Public transit	0.8%	0.8%
Walked	2.2%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.6%	0.0%
Worked from home	3.9%	3.0%
Other means	0.5%	0.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	East Chicago	Hobart
1-unit, detached	42.8%	72.6%
1-unit, attached	7.4%	3.2%
2 to 4 units	26.4%	2.4%
5 to 19 units	16.3%	16.6%
20 or more units	6.9%	4.3%
Mobile home & other	0.3%	0.9%

Poverty & households

	East Chicago	Hobart
Poverty rate	27.0%	13.4%
Average household size	2.61	2.46
Mean commute (minutes)	22	28
Median year structure built	1942	1972