Can Indiana Stand on Its Own?
Does Indiana make, grow and power enough to carry its own weight? What the official numbers say, where we come up short, and who can change it. A strong Indiana makes a stronger America. Here’s where we lead, where we lean on others, and what it would take to close the gaps. Every figure links to its source.
Saved only on this device. A street address goes only to the U.S. Census Bureau’s geocoder (or OpenStreetMap if Census can’t place it) to find the spot. We never receive or log it.
All of Indiana
of Indiana’s economy is manufacturing, the highest share of any state. The U.S. share is 9.5%.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP by state (SAGDP2), current dollars, 2025.in goods shipped to other countries in 2025, 7th among the states. Farm exports added an estimated $5.66 billion.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, state exports by NAICS product and country (origin of movement), December 2025 year-to-date file, 2025.Indiana grows 6.5 times its population share of the nation’s turkeys and 3.5 times its share of corn, but 0.04 times its share of fruit.
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, farm cash receipts by commodity and state, 2025.of the energy Hoosiers use is produced in Indiana. The U.S. as a whole produces 109% of what it uses.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System (SEDS), tables P5A, P5B and consumption by source, 2024.came back to Indiana in federal spending for every $1 Hoosiers paid in federal taxes in fiscal 2023.
Source: Rockefeller Institute of Government, “Giving or Getting? New York’s Balance of Payments with the Federal Government” (2025), Tables 5, 6 and 10, FFY 2023.of state government spending is federal money, the 2nd-highest share of the 50 states. The national share is 33.5%.
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers, 2025 State Expenditure Report, Tables 1, 5, 9, 13, 16, 21 and 26, State fiscal 2025 (estimated).1. What Indiana makes and sells
Top goods exports, 2025
Top buyers, 2025
2. Food: does Indiana grow enough?
How we measure it. Hoosiers are 2.0% of the U.S. population (July 1, 2025). We divide Indiana’s share of U.S. farm sales for each product by that number. 1.0× means Indiana farms sell about as much of that product as Hoosiers would eat at the national average. Above 1.0× is a surplus Indiana sells to other states and countries; below means Indiana relies on them. This compares dollars of the same product, so prices cancel out. It does not count what happens after the farm: much of Indiana’s corn becomes animal feed or ethanol, not food on a plate.
Farm sales, 2025
Source: USDA Economic Research Service, farm cash receipts by commodity and state, 2025.Fruits and vegetables, 2022
Source: USDA NASS, 2022 Census of Agriculture: Indiana state profile and U.S. Table 2, 2022. The USDA’s yearly series does not publish most Indiana fruit and vegetable sales, so we use the five-year Census of Agriculture; population share for 2022 is 2.05%.3. Energy: does Indiana power itself?
| Source | Produced | Used | Covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coal | 454 | 596 | 76% |
| Natural gas | 3 | 965 | 0.4% |
| Oil and petroleum products | 9 | 699 | 1.3% |
| Nuclear | 0 | 0 | — |
| Renewables, including corn ethanol | 281 | 188 | 149% |
| Total | 749 | 2,540 | 29% |
Trillion Btu, 2024. The total used also includes electricity bought from other states. Some Indiana coal is shipped out of state and some coal burned here comes from elsewhere; the table compares totals.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System (SEDS), tables P5A, P5B and consumption by source, 2024.Electricity: from seller to buyer
Indiana sent more electricity to other states than it brought in every year from 1990 through 2011. Every year since, it has brought in more than it sent out. In 2024 Indiana power plants generated 97.0 billion kWh and Indiana brought in a net 14.8 billion kWh, 13% of its supply. Gold bars: net seller. Navy bars: net buyer.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Indiana Electricity Profile, Table 10: supply and disposition, 2024.4. Money: where is it going?
Federal taxes out, federal money in (fiscal 2023)
That is $1.44 back for every $1, a net $30.4 billion ($4,415 per Hoosier). Federal spending in a state includes Social Security and Medicare checks, grants to state and local governments, federal contracts and federal paychecks.
Indiana’s net federal balance by federal fiscal year. 2020 and 2021 include COVID-19 relief.
Source: Rockefeller Institute of Government, “Giving or Getting? New York’s Balance of Payments with the Federal Government” (2025), Tables 5, 6 and 10, FFY 2023.How much of the state budget is federal money?
Where the federal money in the state budget goes
Medicaid as a whole cost $20.5 billion, 43.5% of all state spending. See where state dollars go, vendor by vendor, in Where state money goes.
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers, 2025 State Expenditure Report, Tables 1, 5, 9, 13, 16, 21 and 26, State fiscal 2025 (estimated).5. Where Indiana falls short, and who can change it
For each gap: the facts, what is already law, what lawmakers proposed but did not pass, and who decides. These are options on the record, not recommendations.
Energy
Indiana produced 29% of the energy it used in 2024, and almost none of its natural gas (0.4%) or oil (1.3%). It has bought more electricity from other states than it sold every year since 2012. Indiana has no nuclear power plants.
Already law
- SEA 423 (2025) — Small modular nuclear reactor pilot program.
- SEA 424 (2025) — Lets a utility ask the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to approve small modular reactor development costs before it has a construction certificate, and recover them in rates.
- SEA 425 (2025) — Creates energy production zones to speed up new power plant sites.
- HEA 1007 (2025) — Requires large new power users to pay 80% of the cost of new energy infrastructure built for them (Governor’s office summary).
- Senate Bill 258 (2026) — Changes state rules for permits to build nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel facilities.
- House Bill 1002 (2026) — Makes changes meant to lower or smooth electric bills, including requiring utilities regulated by the state to offer levelized (budget) billing.
Proposed in 2026, did not pass
- House Bill 1276 (2026) — Would have let customers buy electricity from competing suppliers, starting in 2028 for industry and 2029 for homes.
- Senate Bill 272 (2026) — Would have let some electric customers, starting July 1, 2027, buy their power from a competing supplier while their current utility still delivers it.
- Senate Bill 79 (2026) — Would have created a working group to estimate data centers' future electricity needs in Indiana.
- House Bill 1245 (2026) — Would have required a study of how data center electricity demand affects utility costs and rates.
Who decides
The General Assembly writes energy law. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approves utility plans, new power plants and rates. The Office of Utility Consumer Counselor represents customers in those cases.
Fruits, vegetables and meat
Indiana grows 0.38× its population share of vegetables and 0.04× its share of fruit (2022). It raises 0.30× its share of beef cattle and 0.25× its share of meat chickens (2025).
Already law
- House Bill 1424 (2026) — Exempts small home-based and small farm food sellers from certain state food temperature-control rules.
- Senate Bill 164 (2026) — Requires the state agriculture department to study whether to create community or urban "microfarm" zones and report back to lawmakers.
- Senate Bill 55 (2026) — Creates state pork and soybean market development programs that apply if federal checkoff fees are not collected.
- House Bill 1003 (2026) — Merges, repeals or changes many state boards and commissions and creates an agriculture task force.
Proposed in 2026, did not pass
- Senate Bill 276 (2026) — Would have let SNAP recipients get triple value for food bought at farmers' markets, if federal approval is given.
- House Bill 1356 (2026) — Would have required counties to let landowners put farmland into protected agricultural areas.
- House Bill 1105 (2026) — Would have created a registry of farms owned by the same family for 100 years and limited taking that land by eminent domain.
Programs you can use
- Specialty Crop Block Grant — Federal money the Indiana State Department of Agriculture awards for fruit, vegetable and nursery crop projects. $409,581 was offered in the 2026 round, which closed May 13, 2026.
- Indiana Grown — The state agriculture department’s program and directory for finding food grown or made in Indiana.
Who decides
The General Assembly, and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, which runs state farm programs and grants.
Reliance on federal money
46.4% of state spending is federal money, 64% of it for Medicaid (fiscal 2025 (estimated)). Indiana received $30.4 billion more in federal spending than it paid in federal taxes in fiscal 2023.
Already law
- House Bill 1277 (2026) — Changes rules for Medicaid home and community-based care programs, including paperwork providers must give patients to review.
Proposed in 2026, did not pass
- House Bill 1012 (2026) — Would have changed rules for Medicaid home and community-based care programs, including provider audits.
Who decides
The General Assembly writes Indiana’s two-year state budget, including how much state money goes to programs that draw federal matching funds. The State Budget Agency manages it and the Family and Social Services Administration runs Medicaid. Congress sets federal taxes and the federal share of Medicaid; Indiana’s members of Congress vote on both.
Output per person and one big export
Indiana is 2.0% of the U.S. population but produced 1.76% of U.S. GDP in 2025: about $77,790 per person against $90,294 nationally. Medicines were 45% of goods exports, so a change in one industry moves the whole total.
Programs you can use
- IN-STEP export grants — The Indiana Economic Development Corporation reimburses eligible small businesses for 80% of approved export costs, such as trade shows and trade missions, up to $15,000 a year. Funding is open for activities through Dec. 31, 2026.
Who decides
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation runs the state’s business incentives and export programs. The General Assembly sets tax and incentive law.
Every state can run this check
This isn’t one state against another. If every state looks after its own people and pulls its own weight, the whole country is stronger. Here is how Indiana compares with its neighbors on three of these measures.
| State | Manufacturing share of GDP, 2025 | Energy made ÷ used, 2024 | Federal share of state budget, FY2025 est. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana | 23.8% | 29% | 46.4% |
| Illinois | 11.3% | 63% | 16.5% |
| Michigan | 15.4% | 22% | 41.8% |
| Ohio | 13.6% | 88% | 38.8% |
| Kentucky | 15.7% | 44% | 39.4% |
| United States | 9.5% | 109% | 33.5% |
Sources and what we left out
- U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 state population estimates
Data year: July 1, 2025.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP by state (SAGDP2), current dollars
Data year: 2025. Released Sept. 30, 2026, with revised statistics for 2019–2025.
- U.S. Census Bureau, state exports by NAICS product and country (origin of movement), December 2025 year-to-date file
Data year: 2025. “Origin of movement” is the state a shipment left from on its way to the border. It can differ from where a product was made or grown, so farm exports are better measured by the USDA estimate below.
- USDA Economic Research Service, farm cash receipts by commodity and state
Data year: 2025. Data as of Sept. 3, 2026. State figures for the latest year are ERS estimates.
- USDA NASS, 2022 Census of Agriculture: Indiana state profile and U.S. Table 2
Data year: 2022. The Census of Agriculture is taken every five years; 2022 is the latest. U.S. totals: Census of Agriculture Table 2.
- USDA Economic Research Service, State Exports, Cash Receipts Estimates
Data year: 2025. Estimates the value of each state’s farm production that is exported, based on its share of U.S. farm sales.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data System (SEDS), tables P5A, P5B and consumption by source
Data year: 2024. Released June 26, 2026. Renewable production counts biofuels by the energy in their feedstock (mostly corn for ethanol), per EIA’s method.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Indiana Electricity Profile, Table 10: supply and disposition
Data year: 2024. Net interstate trade = in-state generation minus in-state sales, direct use and losses. Negative means Indiana brought in more power than it sent out.
- Rockefeller Institute of Government, “Giving or Getting? New York’s Balance of Payments with the Federal Government” (2025), Tables 5, 6 and 10
Data year: FFY 2023. Federal fiscal year Oct. 2022–Sept. 2023, the latest the institute has published. Receipts are federal taxes and fees attributed to each state’s residents and businesses; expenditures are Social Security, Medicare and other payments to people, grants to state and local governments, contracts and federal wages.
- National Association of State Budget Officers, 2025 State Expenditure Report, Tables 1, 5, 9, 13, 16, 21 and 26
Data year: State fiscal 2025 (estimated). Indiana’s fiscal year runs July 1–June 30. Fiscal 2025 figures are the State Budget Agency’s estimates as reported to NASBO; fiscal 2024 figures are actual.
Measures we left out
- Imports into Indiana
Census Bureau state import data show the first state a shipment is delivered to, often a warehouse or distribution center, not where the goods are finally used, so a state import total would be misleading.
- How much food Hoosiers eat
No federal source measures food consumption state by state, so we compare Indiana’s farm sales with its population share instead.
- IRS collections by state
The IRS counts taxes where they are filed, often at a company’s headquarters, not where the money is earned. We use the Rockefeller Institute’s estimates, which assign taxes to the state where they originate.
- Federal spending from USAspending.gov
It counts awards by where each recipient is recorded and uses different definitions, so its state totals don’t line up with taxes paid. We use the Rockefeller Institute’s estimates, which measure both sides the same way.
Data gathered Oct. 24, 2026. Agencies revise their numbers; the linked official sources always have the latest version. Spot an error? Tell us.