The Demographics Of Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital city of Indiana. It is located in Marion County and is also the county seat. The city has an estimated population of almost 900,000 and is the largest city in Indiana. Indianapolis is the second largest city in the Midwest United States and the 14th largest in the United States. There are nearly two million people living within the metropolitan area of Indianapolis-Anderson-Carmel. The city was founded in 1821 and is located near the confluence of the Fall Creek and the White River. It was designed as a planned city for Indiana’s state government. The economy of the city is diverse and includes life sciences, healthcare, motorsports, manufacturing, logistics and transportation.

There are three Fortune 500 companies with headquarters in Indianapolis. These are Eli Lilly, Anthem, Inc. and Calumet Specialty Product Partners. Indianapolis is called the Crossroads of America. It sits at the junction of six U.S. highways and four Interstate highways. There is an international airport which is also a major cargo hub for international shipping. The Indianapolis airport ranks as the 23d busiest airport in the world for cargo traffic.

Sports City

The city is host to several popular sporting events every year. These include the largest half-marathon in the United states, as well as the Indianapolis 500, the world’s largest single-day sporting event. The city also serves as headquarters for the National Collegiate Athletic Association and frequently serves as host to the Women’s and Men’s basketball tournaments. In 2012, Indianapolis hosted Super Bowl XLVI and is home to the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League.

Revitalization

Indianapolis’ population began growing rapidly in the first half of the 20th century. During the second half of the century, rapid suburbanization took place. Additionally, at the same time, race relations deteriorated. There was increased urban core planning and revitalization in Indianapolis during the 1970s and 1980s. There was a great deal of urban decay within the inner city during this same era. In the late 1980s, major revitalization of the urban areas of Indianapolis saw the rehabilitation and gentrification of Downtown Indianapolis as well as Fall Creek Place. This led to an increased growth of the metropolitan area. Other major construction helped with this revitalization including the openings of the Circle Centre, the RCA Dome, and the Indianapolis Artsgarden. These structures all helped re-energize the central business district.

Population

With the largest population in Indiana, almost 13 percent of the state’s population reside in Indianapolis. The U.S. Census Bureau considers the area comprised of two entities, the city itself and the consolidated city. The consolidated city covers all of Marion County and the area called Unigov, excluding the independent cities of Lawrence, Beech Grove, Southport, and Speedway. The city itself includes the populations residing in eleven semi-independent locales.

The metropolitan area of Indianapolis consists of Marion County, along with the adjacent counties of Brown, Boone, Hancock, Hamilton, Hendricks, Morgan, Johnson, Shelby, and Putnam. The combined metropolitan area is considered by the U.S. Census Bureau to be the 23d largest within the United States.

Within Indianapolis, almost 62 percent of the population reports as white, 28 percent as African-American or Black, and almost 3 percent as Asian. An interesting note is that the area has moe than 10,000 people of Yugoslav descent as a result of the emigration which followed the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s.

The median age for those residing in Indianapolis is 34 years of age and females outnumber males. There are almost 334,000 households within the city, with an average size of 3 people, the majority being families.

Indianapolis enjoys a strong economy, along with enjoyable recreational activities and sporting events. It is considered to be the largest city in Indiana and serves as the State seat of government.