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Best Urban Planning Schools Near Indianapolis, IN (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Indianapolis, Indiana has 4 accredited schools offering urban planning programs, with tuition ranging from $10,762 to $41,221 per year for indexed programs. Indianapolis has a population of about 1,550,488. In the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area, the top-earning urban planning-related role is Management Analysts at a median $97,020 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Closest Urban Planning Schools to Indianapolis
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer urban planning programs near Indianapolis, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Indianapolis city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Indianapolis.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Indiana schools on the Indiana urban planning page.
Urban Planning Wages Near Indianapolis
Indianapolis is part of the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area (BLS area code 26900). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Indiana statewide.
Occupation
Median Wage
Source
COL-Adjusted (US=100)
Urban and Regional Planners
$70,760
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$73,939
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
$77,130
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$80,596
Surveyors
$81,560
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$85,225
Geographers
N/A
IN statewide
–
Social and Community Service Managers
$78,710
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$82,247
Management Analysts
$97,020
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$101,379
Cartographers and Photogrammetrists
$74,800
IN statewide
$78,161
Managers, All Other
$75,460
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$78,851
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
Indianapolis at a Glance
Metric
Value
Source
Regional Price Parity (US=100)
95.7 (below U.S. average)
BEA RPP 2024
Other Indianapolis-Area Cities With Urban Planning Programs
How many accredited urban planning schools are near Indianapolis, IN?
Our directory has 4 accredited schools offering urban planning programs near Indianapolis. The closest is Indiana University-Indianapolis in Indianapolis, IN (1.4 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is University of Cincinnati-Main Campus (97.8 miles). 4 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
What are the highest-paying urban planning roles near Indianapolis?
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying urban planning-related roles near Indianapolis are: Management Analysts ($97,020), Surveyors ($81,560), Social and Community Service Managers ($78,710). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Indiana statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Should I look at programs in Lawrence instead of Indianapolis?
Lawrence, IN is 10.3 miles from Indianapolis and has its own set of local urban planning programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
How do I verify a program is accredited?
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Data verified: September 5, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
