Which Indiana counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 92 Indiana counties we have scored, Parke County scores highest at 97 and Jackson County lowest at 85. Indiana ranks 6th of 50 overall, at 91 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 5 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 92 counties · 451 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsIndiana ranks 6th of 50, 91 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #3 and #8. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in Indiana, best score first

Find a county92 counties


Parke → 37 people / sq mi	97	24	20	13	15	15	10
Harrison → 83 people / sq mi	96	23	20	14	14	15	10
Ohio → 70 people / sq mi	96	25	19	12	15	15	10
Putnam → 78 people / sq mi	96	24	20	13	15	14	10
Rush → 41 people / sq mi	96	25	20	13	15	14	9
Washington → 55 people / sq mi	96	23	20	14	14	15	10
Benton → 22 people / sq mi	95	25	20	13	15	13	9
Dearborn → 168 people / sq mi	95	24	20	13	15	14	9
Fayette → 109 people / sq mi	95	25	20	13	14	14	9
Floyd → 544 people / sq mi	95	23	20	14	14	15	9
Fulton → 55 people / sq mi	95	25	20	12	15	13	10
Kosciusko → 151 people / sq mi	95	25	20	12	15	14	9
LaPorte → 187 people / sq mi	95	25	20	12	15	13	10
Marshall → 105 people / sq mi	95	25	20	13	15	12	10
Newton → 35 people / sq mi	95	25	20	13	15	13	9
Owen → 56 people / sq mi	95	24	20	13	15	14	9
Crawford → 34 people / sq mi	94	24	20	14	14	13	9
Decatur → 71 people / sq mi	94	24	20	13	14	14	9
Knox → 70 people / sq mi	94	24	20	13	12	15	10
Perry → 50 people / sq mi	94	24	20	14	14	12	10
St. Joseph → 596 people / sq mi	94	25	20	12	14	14	9
Vermillion → 60 people / sq mi	94	24	20	13	15	13	9
Vigo → 263 people / sq mi	94	23	20	13	15	13	10
Bartholomew → 206 people / sq mi	93	25	20	13	14	14	7
Carroll → 55 people / sq mi	93	25	20	12	14	13	9
Clark → 337 people / sq mi	93	23	20	13	13	14	10
Clay → 74 people / sq mi	93	22	20	13	15	13	10
Clinton → 81 people / sq mi	93	25	20	13	15	13	7
Fountain → 42 people / sq mi	93	23	19	13	15	13	10
Greene → 58 people / sq mi	93	23	20	13	14	13	10
Jasper → 60 people / sq mi	93	25	20	13	15	12	8
Jennings → 73 people / sq mi	93	24	20	13	13	13	10
LaGrange → 108 people / sq mi	93	25	20	12	15	12	9
Monroe → 353 people / sq mi	93	24	20	13	13	14	9
Randolph → 54 people / sq mi	93	25	20	13	15	13	7
Scott → 130 people / sq mi	93	22	20	13	13	15	10
Sullivan → 46 people / sq mi	93	21	20	13	15	14	10
Union → 43 people / sq mi	93	23	20	12	15	14	9
Wayne → 165 people / sq mi	93	25	20	13	15	13	7
Dubois → 102 people / sq mi	92	24	20	13	12	14	9
Hendricks → 458 people / sq mi	92	25	20	13	14	13	7
Lake → 1003 people / sq mi	92	25	20	13	15	12	7
Lawrence → 100 people / sq mi	92	24	20	11	14	13	10
Madison → 293 people / sq mi	92	25	20	13	13	14	7
Orange → 49 people / sq mi	92	23	20	13	13	13	10
Porter → 419 people / sq mi	92	25	20	12	15	12	8
Posey → 61 people / sq mi	92	25	20	13	10	14	10
Spencer → 50 people / sq mi	92	23	20	13	13	13	10
Steuben → 113 people / sq mi	92	25	20	12	15	13	7
Tippecanoe → 378 people / sq mi	92	25	20	13	14	13	7
White → 49 people / sq mi	92	25	20	12	15	12	8
Boone → 180 people / sq mi	91	25	20	13	14	12	7
Cass → 91 people / sq mi	91	23	20	12	15	13	8
Daviess → 78 people / sq mi	91	24	20	13	12	13	9
DeKalb → 122 people / sq mi	91	25	20	12	15	12	7
Elkhart → 446 people / sq mi	91	25	20	12	15	12	7
Franklin → 60 people / sq mi	91	24	19	12	15	14	7
Gibson → 68 people / sq mi	91	24	20	13	9	15	10
Hancock → 282 people / sq mi	91	25	20	13	13	13	7
Henry → 125 people / sq mi	91	25	20	12	14	13	7
Johnson → 524 people / sq mi	91	25	20	13	13	13	7
Marion → 2446 people / sq mi	91	25	18	13	12	14	9
Morgan → 181 people / sq mi	91	24	20	13	14	13	7
Pulaski → 29 people / sq mi	91	23	20	12	15	12	9
Ripley → 66 people / sq mi	91	23	20	13	14	14	7
Warren → 23 people / sq mi	91	23	20	13	15	13	7
Allen → 600 people / sq mi	90	25	20	12	15	11	7
Blackford → 72 people / sq mi	90	25	20	12	14	12	7
Hamilton → 942 people / sq mi	90	25	19	13	13	13	7
Miami → 95 people / sq mi	90	25	20	12	14	12	7
Noble → 115 people / sq mi	90	23	20	12	15	13	7
Shelby → 110 people / sq mi	90	25	20	13	13	12	7
Switzerland → 45 people / sq mi	90	25	19	13	13	13	7
Wells → 78 people / sq mi	90	25	20	12	14	12	7
Delaware → 287 people / sq mi	89	23	20	12	14	13	7
Grant → 160 people / sq mi	89	25	20	12	14	11	7
Howard → 286 people / sq mi	89	23	20	12	14	13	7
Huntington → 96 people / sq mi	89	23	20	12	15	12	7
Jay → 52 people / sq mi	89	25	19	12	14	12	7
Martin → 30 people / sq mi	89	24	20	11	12	13	9
Montgomery → 76 people / sq mi	89	23	20	13	14	12	7
Tipton → 59 people / sq mi	89	23	20	13	13	13	7
Warrick → 171 people / sq mi	89	23	20	13	10	14	9
Jefferson → 92 people / sq mi	88	24	20	11	13	13	7
Starke → 75 people / sq mi	88	25	20	12	14	11	6
Wabash → 74 people / sq mi	88	23	20	12	14	12	7
Whitley → 104 people / sq mi	88	23	19	12	15	12	7
Brown → 50 people / sq mi	87	23	20	13	13	12	6
Vanderburgh → 770 people / sq mi	87	25	20	13	9	13	7
Pike → 36 people / sq mi	86	24	19	13	10	13	7
Adams → 107 people / sq mi	85	23	20	12	14	10	6
Jackson → 91 people / sq mi	85	24	20	13	10	13	5

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

98% of Indiana's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Parke, Harrison and Ohio. The weakest are Adams, Jackson and Pike. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price).

What separates them

Buildability: Parke County scores 10 of 10, Jackson County 5. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Hazard: Parke County scores 15 of 15, Vanderburgh County 9. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Food: Parke County scores 15 of 15, Adams County 10. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Solar: Harrison County scores 14 of 15, Jefferson County 11. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Water: Ohio County scores 25 of 25, Sullivan County 21. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.

Legal barely moves across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Solar is Indiana's weakest dimension, at 12 of 15 for the state as a whole. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $30k to $84k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Indiana row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Indiana

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Indiana? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsIndiana: 91 of 100, 6th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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