A new statewide survey from Ball State University’s Bowen Center for Public Affairs suggests Hoosiers are generally comfortable living in Indiana, but they’re anxious about kitchen-table issues, skeptical of big-ticket economic development projects like data centers, and far more supportive of marijuana legalization and a higher minimum wage than the Statehouse has acted like.
The 2025 Hoosier Survey, conducted online by YouGov, asked a sample of 600 Indiana adults about issues ranging from taxes to education to redistricting. The results show a state that isn’t in open revolt — but isn’t exactly buying the “everything’s fine” line either.
On the basic question of whether Indiana is a good place to live, respondents were broadly positive. About 68% rated Indiana as “excellent” or “good,” while roughly a third rated it “fair” or “poor,” underscoring a public mood that’s more “content” than “thrilled.”
Where voters sharpen up is on priorities. The survey’s top issue list is dominated by affordability and core services — affordable health care, public schools, reducing local taxes, and public safety all rank near the top.
School safety, in particular, remains a live wire. The survey found 32.7% of respondents are “very concerned” about the safety of children attending Indiana schools, with 37.9% “somewhat concerned.” Another 17.4% said they are “slightly concerned,” while 12% said they are “not concerned at all.”
On taxes, voters lean toward smaller government in the abstract — a majority said they’d rather have fewer services to reduce taxes — but the “fairness” question shows why property taxes continue to cause heartburn. When asked about the fairness of different state taxes, property taxes drew the harshest ratings: 28% said property taxes are “somewhat unfair” (16%) or “very unfair” (12%). By contrast, income and sales taxes were less likely to be labeled unfair.
Voters also appear ready to move on minimum wage. The survey found overwhelming support for raising Indiana’s $7.25 minimum wage, with roughly four in five Hoosiers supporting an increase and only a small minority strongly opposed.
Marijuana policy is another area where public opinion looks nothing like state law. The survey found 59.0% support legal marijuana for both medical and recreational use, and another 25.1% support legal marijuana for medical use only. That’s 84.1% backing legalization in some form — leaving just 15.9% saying marijuana “should not be legal.”
On economic development, the survey suggests Hoosiers are not automatically sold on the next “jobs” press release. Asked about the impact of data centers in Indiana, 47.4% said they expect a negative impact, compared with 29.5% who see a positive impact and 23.1% who expect no impact.
Redistricting also produced a telling split. When asked whether the Indiana General Assembly should enact legislation allowing congressional districts to be redrawn mid-decade, 26.1% agreed (8.1% strongly, 18.0% somewhat), 38.6% disagreed (10.6% somewhat, 28.0% strongly), and 35.4% landed in the middle with “neither agree nor disagree.”
The survey also asked how Hoosiers get their news — and the answer is, increasingly, social media. Forty-two percent said they get news from social media “always” (16%) or “often” (26%), while only 13% said they never get news there. Newspapers were the inverse: just 13% said “always/often,” while 37% said they never get news from newspapers. Local TV remained steadier, with 31% saying “always/often,” and smaller “never” numbers than newspapers or cable.
Methodology: The 2025 Hoosier Survey was conducted online by YouGov. Sample size was 600, with a reported margin of error of plus or minus 4.89 and an interview length of about 10 minutes. The slide deck provided does not list specific field dates.
