Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes put Austin near the very bottom of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Austin is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. The poverty rate is 27.0%, where Indiana as a whole has 12.3%. Jobs and income earn Austin C−; getting around on foot earns it C−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Austin, in brief
Fewer jobs are based in Austin than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Austin fell from 648 in 2013 to 419 in 2023, −35%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Austin pay little
26% of the jobs based in Austin pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Austin gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Austin is better than 16% of U.S. towns, #557 of 593 in Indiana. Job access by car holds Austin’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($31,520, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Austin could be anywhere from D to C+.
What Austin’s employers do
419 jobs are based in Austin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Austin, 2013 → 2023: 648 → 419. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Austin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Austin
On a workday 1,285 residents head out to work, 72 work right here, and 347 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Austin on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.31 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
15% of working residents work in Scottsburg
Where Austin clocks in
15% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The trip to work from Austin: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Austin workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,505 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Indiana: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Austin’s workers travel
About 25% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Austin, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Austin is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns, #489 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.3% across Indiana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,586 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.2% of Austin households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Austin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Austin is 3,401st of 3,962 U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,700 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Clark Township IN | 3,026 | $138K | 5.2% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 97 | Milan Township IN | 4,066 | $120K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Georgetown IN | 3,855 | $113K | 2.1% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,399 | San Manuel AZ | 3,491 | $48K | 22.0% | 2.4% | 12% | C− |
| 3,400 | Pine Manor FL | 3,660 | $46K | 19.2% | 12.2% | 1% | C− |
| 3,401 | Austin IN | 4,254 | $32K | 27.0% | 5.3% | 5% | C− |
| 3,402 | Water Valley MS | 3,414 | $43K | 27.1% | 3.1% | 18% | C− |
| 3,403 | Mount Morris MI | 3,086 | $49K | 22.7% | 8.3% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,962 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Austin, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Austin and its neighbors: 10% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Austin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | – | C− | C− | 23 min | $31,520 |
| Jennings Township | 10% | C | C− | 25 min | $40,512 |
| Vienna Township | under 2% | C− | C+ | 24 min | $53,163 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Jennings Township. Darker towns draw more of Austin’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Austin: questions
What is the median household income in Austin?
$31,520 (±$7,360) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Austin?
27.0%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Austin?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Austin work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Scottsburg (15%, 4 mi), Jennings Township (10%, 2 mi), Crothersville (7%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Austin walkable?
Austin is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Austin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Austin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Austin
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.