
Elkhart County · Indiana
ZIP code 46540
- Population
- 13,239
- Median income
- $99,664
- Median home
- $297,800
- Sales tax
- 7%
ZCTA residents
Household, past 12 months
Owner-occupied value
Indiana state rate
Quick answer
ZIP 46540 sits in Elkhart County, Indiana and is home to 13,239 people. Median household income is $99,664, the median home is worth $297,800 and median gross rent is $1,074. 87.7% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 7% (Indiana state rate).
- County
- Elkhart County
- State
- Indiana (IN)
- Area codes
- Not published
- Metro area
- Outside covered metros
FIPS 18039
807 ZIPs covered
No NANPA match for this ZIP
Rate jurisdiction used for tax
The numbers for 46540
American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.
- Population
- 13,239ZIP 46540 residents
- Median household income
- $99,664Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $297,800Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $1,074Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 31.7 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 87.7%Owner-occupied households
ZIP 46540 in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
ZIP 46540 is a mid-size town in Elkhart County, Indiana, with 13,239 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #178 of 807 ranked by population — larger than 78% of them. The median age here is 31.7 years against 39.1 nationally, a distinctly younger profile, typical of places with students, military posts or a fast-growing family population. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.
Households in ZIP 46540 earn a median of $99,664 a year, 26.9% above the national figure of $78,538. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 6.2% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.
The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 46540 is valued at $297,800, 1.8% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,074 a month, 23.6% below the national figure, or roughly $12,888 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 12.9% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 87.7% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, an owner-dominated market where rental listings are scarce and rent medians rest on a thin sample. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.
Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.
Reading ZIP 46540 in context
How 46540 sits inside Elkhart County and Indiana.
ZIP 46540 is tabulated inside Elkhart County, Indiana, one of 11 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 807 across Indiana. This is a mid-sized ZIP that covers a large share of its county's addresses. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 46540 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.
Against its own county, 46540 reports a median household income of $99,664, 26% above the $79,375 county median, and 44% above the $68,990 typical IN ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $297,800, 29% above the county figure and 77% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,074 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.
Indiana charges 7% statewide, and no local sales tax is layered on top, so the state rate is the full amount collected in 46540.
Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 46540 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.
Sales tax in 46540
What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.
Indiana levies 7% statewide with no local add-ons. Check the county page for the local component before you quote a price.
Affordability in this ZIP
Derived from the Census medians above — indicative, not an offer.
A rent burden above 30% is the federal threshold for cost-burdened households, and a price-to-income multiple above 4× is generally considered a stretched housing market. The mortgage figure is principal and interest only — taxes, insurance and HOA dues are extra.
How 46540 compares
ZIP 46540 against the median ZIP in Elkhart County and across Indiana.
| Measure | ZIP 46540 | County median | State median | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $99,664 | $79,375 | $68,990 | +44% |
| Median home value | $297,800 | $231,300 | $168,100 | +77% |
| Median gross rent | $1,074 | $1,056 | $895 | +20% |
| Population | 13,239 | 13,239 | 2,793 | +374% |
Medians are computed across the 11 ZIP areas in Elkhart County and the 807 ZIP areas in Indiana.
Statewide rank
Where this ZIP places among all 807 Indiana ZIP areas.
- Income
- #58
- Home value
- #39
- Population
- #178
richer than 92% of 734 state ZIPs
above 95% of 733 state ZIPs
larger than 78% of 807 state ZIPs
Comparable ZIP codes
Indiana ZIP areas with almost the same household income.
Nearby ZIP codes
Other ZIP codes filed under Elkhart County.
Adjacent ZIP Codes
Other ZIP codes in Elkhart County, Indiana.
ZIP 46540 questions
Common questions about this ZIP code.
- Where is ZIP code 46540?
- ZIP 46540 lies mostly in Elkhart County, Indiana. County assignment follows the largest share of land area, so a ZIP straddling a county line is filed under its dominant county.
- What sales tax do I pay in 46540?
- Indiana charges 7% statewide.
- Is 46540 expensive to live in?
- Median rent runs $1,074 a month, about 13% of median household income, and the median home is worth $297,800 — +77% against the typical Indiana ZIP.
- Is a ZCTA the same as a postal ZIP code?
- Not exactly. The Census builds ZIP Code Tabulation Areas from the ZIP codes of addresses inside each census block, so a ZCTA can differ slightly from the USPS delivery route of the same number, and PO-box-only ZIPs have no ZCTA at all.
Keep going
Related pages for this area.
Sources & transparency
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates — 2019-2023 ACS 5-year — population, income, housing
- Census 2020 ZCTA-to-county relationship file — County assignment by largest land-area overlap
- Indiana Department of Revenue — Sales tax rates and local add-ons
Last reviewed December 2024. Figures are published for reference and can change; verify with the source agency before filing or contracting. How we build and check this data.