Don’t expect Indianapolis to hang a banner or post highway signs to commemorate its newest No. 1 ranking.
Indiana’s capital, known as the Circle City and the Crossroads of America, earned the title of the “Most Boring Major U.S. City” in a recent survey IndianaBets.com conducted with our sister sites.
IndianaBets.com took a break from Indiana sports betting coverage and surveyed 600 U.S. residents via Reddit.com’s/AskReddit subreddit to utilize their commented answers to the question, “What is the most boring major US city?” Only cities ranked within the top 50 in population were considered for the purposes of this survey.
Indianapolis got the most votes, with 33, followed By San Jose, Calif., with 31.
A few months ago, a Reddit user described Indianapolis as “the most homogenous-looking city I’ve ever spent time in. You could be anywhere in the city, and it will look the same as everywhere else in the city. It all looks the same.”
The city is flat, topographically speaking, so there are no stunning landscapes surrounding the town. As far as famous celebrities go, there’s Steve McQueen, David Letterman and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and that’s about it. There is, of course, the Indianapolis 500 that’s held every year, but there are few unique destinations – every city has museums.
While immediate thoughts might lead people to recall some of Indy’s other nicknames, like Nap-town or Indianoplace, step back and ask, why do nearly 890,000 people live in Indianapolis?
For starters, it’s among the most affordable big cities in the U.S. According to Realtor.com, the median price for a house in Indy was $251,400. The national median is $417,700, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The lower cost for housing means the cost of living is about 7% lower than then national average, according to Payscale.com.
In terms of business, Indianapolis is a major hub for life sciences research and development. It’s also home to three Fortune 500 companies and 35 employers on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing businesses in the U.S. So, there are opportunities to find high-paying jobs in the city.
Like most major cities, you will find plenty of sporting events to watch or attend, and those are rarely boring.
Although the Indianapolis 500 is by far the city’s biggest event, as the race drew more than 330,000 fans last year, Indy also has hosted several other big events. It’s hosted eight Final Fours—with a ninth coming in 2026—and Lucas Oil Stadium also hosted Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.
And Indy’s pro sports teams are anything but boring. The Indiana Pacers lead the NBA, averaging 122.7 points a game, and they’re the only team in the league shooting better than 50% from the field for the season.
Currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference with five regular-season games remaining, the Pacers are considered a longshot to win the NBA Championship this season. BetMGM Indiana sportsbooks give the Pacers odds of +5000 to win the conference and +15000 to win it all.
The Indianapolis Colts, the city’s other major pro team, surprised many by battling for an NFL playoff spot until the final weekend of the season. Can they take the next step this fall? FanDuel Indiana has set the Colts’ season win total at 8.5, with odds of +118 to go over and -144 to go under.
Something that’s never boring is the sports and gaming news and analysis coming from IndianaBets.com, your source for the best Indiana sports betting promo codes.
USA Today photo by Marc Lebryk
Author
Steve is an accomplished, award-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience covering gaming, sports, politics and business. He has written for the Associated Press, Reuters, The Louisville Courier Journal, The Center Square and numerous other publications. Based in Louisville, Ky., Steve has covered the expansion of sports betting in the U.S. and other gaming matters.
