Lafayette vs West Lafayette

A side-by-side comparison of Lafayette and West Lafayette: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Lafayette has the higher population (70,650 vs 44,802 in West Lafayette). Lafayette has the higher median household income ($52,946 vs $33,497 in West Lafayette). West Lafayette has the higher median home value ($318,100 vs $157,600 in Lafayette).

Population, income & housing

	Lafayette	West Lafayette
Population	70,650	44,802
Median age	33.7 yrs	21.4 yrs
Median household income	$52,946	$33,497
Median home value	$157,600	$318,100
Median gross rent	$1,039	$1,152
Housing units	33,911	16,309
Homeownership rate	47.6%	30.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	28.1%	71.2%
Unemployment rate	3.3%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Lafayette	West Lafayette
Population	72,581 → 70,650 (-2.7%)	48,551 → 44,802 (-7.7%)
Median household income	$46,374 → $52,946 (+14.2%)	$34,650 → $33,497 (-3.3%)
Median home value	$114,800 → $157,600 (+37.3%)	$224,000 → $318,100 (+42.0%)
Median gross rent	$817 → $1,039 (+27.2%)	$912 → $1,152 (+26.3%)

Lafayette

Population

72,58170,650

Median household income

$46,374$52,946

Median home value

$114,800$157,600

Median gross rent

$817$1,039

West Lafayette

Population

48,55144,802

Median household income

$34,650$33,497

Median home value

$224,000$318,100

Median gross rent

$912$1,152

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Lafayette	West Lafayette
Under 5	6.9%	1.9%
5 to 17	16.4%	6.5%
18 to 24	11.1%	61.1%
25 to 34	17.8%	9.2%
35 to 44	13.8%	4.8%
45 to 54	10.0%	4.8%
55 to 64	10.0%	4.4%
65 to 74	8.8%	3.6%
75 and over	5.2%	3.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Lafayette	West Lafayette
White (non-Hispanic)	71.3%	66.4%
Black or African American	8.9%	3.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	2.5%	20.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.5%	0.4%
Two or more races	2.8%	3.4%
Hispanic or Latino	13.8%	5.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Lafayette	West Lafayette
No high school diploma	11.1%	2.6%
High school graduate	33.8%	10.1%
Some college or associate's	26.9%	16.1%
Bachelor's degree	18.2%	28.0%
Graduate or professional degree	9.9%	43.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Lafayette	West Lafayette
Drove alone	79.9%	49.0%
Carpooled	7.3%	3.8%
Public transit	2.5%	5.6%
Walked	2.2%	24.5%
Bicycle	0.2%	3.4%
Worked from home	7.5%	12.5%
Other means	0.4%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Lafayette	West Lafayette
1-unit, detached	57.5%	32.6%
1-unit, attached	3.2%	1.9%
2 to 4 units	15.0%	6.5%
5 to 19 units	16.9%	31.0%
20 or more units	6.1%	27.7%
Mobile home & other	1.4%	0.2%

Poverty & households

	Lafayette	West Lafayette
Poverty rate	17.1%	37.4%
Average household size	2.16	2.10
Mean commute (minutes)	16	15
Median year structure built	1970	1990