With 6.85 million residents, Indiana ranks 17th among the 51 states (with the District of Columbia). It helps to know the ground before spending a marketing dollar; the numbers below are the ground.
Across Indiana there are 12 metropolitan areas with their own profiles on this site; Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN is the largest at 2.13 million residents.
Household income runs $71,957 here, which is 11 percent below the national figure. Owner-occupied homes carry a median value of $218,200, 34 percent below the national figure; the national comparison point is $332,700.
The household mix in brief. Ownership: 70.6% of households own their home, 5 points above the US share. The unemployment rate stands at 4.3%, about the same as the US share. Age first: the median is 38.1, 0.8 years below the national median. Among adults 25 and over, 29.5% have at least a bachelor's degree, 6 points below the US share.
Relative to Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN, household income in Indiana is 10 percent lower than the Indianapolis metro figure, home values are 18 percent lower than the Indianapolis metro figure, and businesses per 1,000 residents are 5 percent thinner than the Indianapolis metro figure.
There are 155,692 employer businesses in Indiana. Relative to population, 22.7 per 1,000 residents, 9 percent below the national figure. The home-services trades that most often advertise locally number 7,710 establishments, a 5% share, about the same as the US share. The most numerous category on this page is restaurants at 11,578.
| Category | Locations | Per 100k people | Local ÷ US share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grocery and convenience retailers | 1,256 | 18.3 | 0.67× |
| Legal services | 2,507 | 36.6 | 0.74× |
| Personal care services (all) | 2,347 | 34.3 | 0.78× |
| Electrical contractors | 1,323 | 19.3 | 0.85× |
| Dentists | 2,246 | 32.8 | 0.89× |
| Physicians' offices | 3,607 | 52.6 | 0.89× |
| Highway, street and bridge construction | 158 | 2.3 | 0.92× |
| Beauty salons | 1,438 | 21 | 0.92× |
| Lessors of real estate (all) | 2,363 | 34.5 | 0.93× |
| Child day care services | 1,435 | 20.9 | 0.94× |
| Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors | 2,008 | 29.3 | 0.97× |
| Other specialty trade contractors (paving, asphalt, fencing) | 769 | 11.2 | 0.97× |
| Restaurants and other eating places | 11,578 | 169 | 1.01× |
| Self-storage facilities | 350 | 5.1 | 1.01× |
| Landscaping services | 2,463 | 36 | 1.12× |
| Roofing contractors | 557 | 8.1 | 1.17× |
| General automotive repair | 1,887 | 27.5 | 1.19× |
| Concrete foundation and structure contractors | 590 | 8.6 | 1.36× |
| General freight trucking | 3,001 | 43.8 | 1.38× |
| Automobile dealers | 1,261 | 18.4 | 1.44× |
Reading the index: 1.00 matches the national mix, 1.50 means half again as common here, 0.50 half as common.
The market over-indexes on automobile dealers, general freight trucking, concrete contractors and general automotive repair. Automobile dealers are the clearest case: 1,261 establishments, 1.4 times the share they hold nationally. By contrast grocery stores, legal services, personal care services and electrical contractors are comparatively scarce in Indiana. Grocery stores are the clearest gap with 1,256 establishments, about 67% of the share they hold across the US. Plumbing and HVAC contractors, specialty trade contractors and landscaping services sit near their national proportions.
Adjusted for population, restaurants are the thickest on the ground (169 per 100,000), with physicians' offices and general freight trucking next. Counted by establishments, the order is restaurants (11,578), physicians' offices (3,607), general freight trucking (3,001). Sector view: automotive businesses index at 1.3 times the national share, legal services at about 74% of.
Because automobile dealers, general freight trucking and concrete contractors are over-represented, a new entrant in those categories competes for a fixed pool of searches against many established profiles. Reviews, photos, response time and a page that answers the exact query are what move the needle; simply outbidding is expensive. Thin categories such as grocery stores, legal services and personal care services are where the market has room. The searches still happen; there are simply fewer businesses answering them, so the first well-presented operator tends to collect the calls. With a median age 0.8 years below the national median, expect more discovery through maps, short video and AI answers; search alone covers less of the market. Income 11 percent below the national figure puts price front and center; ads that state the offer plainly and make calling easy do best. At 70.6% owner-occupied, home-services demand comes straight from residents rather than through landlords.
Where to start in Indiana, based on the competition profile above.
Call and form tracking so every campaign is judged on leads, not clicks.
An answering service that books and qualifies rather than sending callers to voicemail.
Search campaigns built around the searches people in Indiana actually type, with the geography fenced to where the work is.
Keeping the Business Profile complete, current and answered so it earns the map placement.
Ranking for the service-and-town searches without paying per click.
A site built to convert a local search into a phone call or a form.
We will look at your Business Profile, your site and your current ads, then say plainly what to fix first.
Data: US Census Bureau ACS 2024 5-year estimates and County Business Patterns 2023.