C’ville Ranks Nationally in New Study

Crawfordsville, long known as the Athens of the Indiana and home to one of the biggest selling books of all time, has another feather in its illustrious cap.

Heartland Forward, a think tank resource for communities in the middle of the country, just released a report that studies 527 micropolitan areas in the U.S. and ranked Crawfordsville 60^th in the nation and second in Indiana for economic strength and future potential.

“This ranking is a reflection of our commitment to sustainable growth, innovation, and the continued efforts of our local industries and workforce,” Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton said. “Crawfordsville is a vibrant community, and we are honored to be recognized as one of the nation’s most dynamic micropolitans.”

Heartland’s 2024 Most Dynamic Micropolitans report looked at the economic strength and future potential of communities with populations between 10,000 and 50,000 residents. The study focused on the time period since the COVID-10 pandemic.

The city said that the report clearly recognized Crawfordsville and Montgomery County’s resilience and adaptability – two facts that became evident during the pandemic when Barton first rolled out a city-led loan program to help keep small businesses afloat during that period. And later, Barton and the city forgave the loans, further helping the economic rebound.

Washington, Ind. was the only micropolitan in the state to rank higher than Crawfordsville. The southern Indiana community finished 33^rd. Other Indiana areas in the top 200 included Wabash at 102, Angola at 106, Madison 121, Frankfort 132, Auburn 150 and New Castle 167.

Los Alamos in New Mexico finished atop the study.

Heartland Forward defines itself as “a think and do tank and resource for states and local communities in the middle of the country. We do this by studying broad economic trends and building data-driven and community-tested partnerships, programs and policies to address the needs of the heartland.”

Its geographical region covers the entire middle of the country.