Valparaiso (IPA: ˌvɑl.pə.ˈɹeɪ.zoʊ) is a city in Porter County, Indiana, USA, and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is the county seat of Porter County. The city's nickname is Valpo.

History

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Established in 1836 as the county seat of Portersville, it was renamed to Valparaiso in 1837 after Valparaíso, Chile, near which the county's namesake David Porter battled in the War of 1812.
Until 1991 it was the terminal of Amtrak's Calumet commuter service.

Geography

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It is situated at the critical junctions of U.S. Route 30, State Road 2, and State Road 49. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.5 km² (11.0 mi²). 28.2 km² (10.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.73%) is water.

Demographics

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Valparaiso is located at . As of the census of 2000, there were 27,428 people, 10,867 households, and 6,368 families residing in the city. The population density was 971.6/km² (2,515.4/mi²). There were 11,559 housing units at an average density of 409.4/km² (1,060.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.35% White, 1.60% African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.79% from other races, and 1.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.34% of the population.
There were 10,867 households out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.9% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 17.4% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $45,799, and the median income for a family was $60,637. Males had a median income of $46,452 versus $26,544 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,509. About 4.8% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.1% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

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Higher education
The city is the site of multiple colleges and universities. Purdue University North Central has a satellite campus in Valparaiso, and one of Ivy Tech's 23 regional campuses is located in the city. Valparaiso is also home to namesake Valparaiso University, a highly ranked NCAA Division I institution occupying 310 acres on the south side of the city near downtown. The university is also a cultural center of the city, hosting venues such as the Brauer Museum of Art, home to...