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Indiana’s voter registration and turnout ranking among other states increased in 2024, according to a new report from the Indiana Bar Foundation. However, experts say there’s still work to be done to boost Hoosiers’ civic participation from the nation’s bottom third or worse in several categories.
Authors of the 2025 Indiana Civic Health Index shared their findings at the Statehouse on Wednesday, noting that although Indiana made climbs in voter registration and turnout from past years, participation remains well below the national average.
“Civic health is about more than a single Election Day; it’s about whether Hoosiers feel informed, connected, and empowered to participate in their communities year-round,” said Chuck Dunlap, president and CEO of the Indiana Bar Foundation, in a news release.
“This report reinforces that Indiana is making progress, and it also clarifies the opportunities ahead of us to reduce barriers to participation, strengthen trust, and build civic habits early. Our team, and our partners, are committed to using this data as a guide for how to continue to strengthen civic participation in Indiana.”
According to the report, voter registration in Indiana rose to 73.7% in 2024—the highest level in the last 14 years. That moved the state’s national ranking from 40th in the 2022 midterm election to 33rd in the 2024 presidential elections.
Voter turnout also improved, with the state’s national ranking climbing from 46th to 41st, but that could be due to the slight drop in the national voting percentage.
“I think we have been improving, but other states have been improving as well, and at a dramatic rate,” David Roof, director of the Center for Economic and Civic Learning at Ball State University, and one of the report’s authors, said on Wednesday. “So, Indiana is still falling for the lower end when ranked among other states.”
Indiana remained well below the national average in voter turnout, Roof noted in the report, showing that conversion from registration to voting is Indiana’s “key shortfall.”
“The data seems to point to a turnout problem that is less about civic indifference and more about persistent, predictable frictions,” Roof concluded.
However, Roof emphasized that the overall findings show momentum does exist in the state, but that it’s still fragile and that there are still areas needing improvement.
One area of improvement that Ellen Szarleta, director of the Indiana University Northwest Center for Urban and Regional Excellence, discussed was social connectedness, or the sense of belonging and trust within a community.
“Our research indicates that when these indicators—volunteering, neighborhood health—are strong, that’s what helps us build strength; it’s what helps us build trust; it’s what helps us support our economic development activities,” Szarleta said.
According to the report, from 2010 to 2023, Hoosiers improved their rank among other states in volunteering, doing favors for neighbors and charitable giving.
Social connectedness “lays the foundation for who we will be as a community and as a state as we’re moving forward,” Szarleta said.
But Hoosiers still have work to do, especially in areas of social interaction and overall political involvement.
When comparing Indiana’s performance in interacting with those around them to other states, the outlook was “less optimistic,” Szarleta wrote in the report. From 2017 to 2023, the state dropped 24 spots, from 18th to 42nd, in the national ranking on discussing issues with neighbors; discussing issues with family and friends dropped from 12th to 37th; and hearing from family and friends dropped from 12th to 42nd.
Similarly, political involvement, such as posting views online, reading the news and attending public meetings, also declined.
“I think the one thing we could take away is intentionality; this doesn’t happen by accident,” Szarleta said. “If we create the right civic and community infrastructure, we’ll be able to address those weaknesses while still building on the strengths and figuring out ways to connect them.”
But it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution, she added.
Some possible considerations the authors posed included improved transportation, greater access to voting, more opportunities to volunteer or something as simple as investing in parks and trails—places where people gather.
One group the authors particularly stressed to be intentional about was youth and young people.
According to the report, in 2024, only 46.4% of Hoosiers ages 18 to 29 voted, compared to 64% of adults over 30 years old.
“To build a healthier civic culture, meaningful opportunities for youth must be embedded in every fabric of every town and every city,” said Stephanie Serriere, professor of Social Studies Education at Indiana University Columbus.
Serriere highlighted several strong civic programs for Hoosier youth, including the Indiana Bar Foundation’s We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution program, the iEngage Youth Civic Empowerment Institute, the Indiana YMCA Youth and Government and more.
Bringing Hoosier youth the values and virtues of democratic and civic participation would set the state up for higher levels of social connectedness in the future, Szarleta said.
“Let’s build on that investment and think very intentionally about what we want to have them do when they graduate in 12 years,” she said. “Who do they look like? What should they be?”
Other findings from the report can be found here.
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