Biggest Cities in Indiana

Indiana's population is concentrated in the Indianapolis metro, with secondary metros in Fort Wayne, Evansville, and South Bend. The state's suburban growth has been primarily in Hamilton County north of Indianapolis.

Indianapolis — 880,000 (metro: 2.1 million)
Indiana's capital and sole large city — Indianapolis is the largest US city without a navigable waterway (the White River is too shallow for commercial navigation, which is why Indianapolis was a relatively late developer). The city is defined by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the world's most-attended single-day sports event; the White River State Park (a connected series of cultural institutions — Indianapolis Zoo, the Eiteljorg Museum of Native American and Western Art, Indiana State Museum, the NCAA headquarters, Victory Field, and the Indianapolis Indians); and the revitalized downtown (Monument Circle, the City Market, the Mass Ave arts district). Eli Lilly's global headquarters gives Indianapolis outsized pharmaceutical industry significance.

Fort Wayne — 270,000
Indiana's second-largest city — at the junction of three rivers (St. Marys, St. Joseph, and Maumee), Fort Wayne was the site of Fort Miami and then Fort Wayne (named for General Anthony Wayne). The Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Science Central science museum, and the TinCaps minor league baseball stadium (Parkview Field — consistently voted best minor league ballpark in the US) give the city more amenity than its industrial reputation suggests.

Evansville — 116,000
Indiana's third city and the regional center of the tri-state area (Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky) at the south bend of the Ohio River. The Angel Mounds State Historic Site (the finest Mississippian-era mound complex in Indiana), the Evansville Museum, and the Casino Aztar riverboat casino define the city's character.

South Bend — 103,000
The University of Notre Dame's host city — South Bend's economy is anchored by the university and its alumni network. The Studebaker National Museum (Studebaker cars were manufactured in South Bend 1852–1963), the College Football Hall of Fame (relocated to Atlanta in 2014 but originally South Bend), and the East Race Waterway (the only artificial whitewater racecourse in the US, in a historic millrace) give South Bend distinctive attractions.