Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Bedford are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Bedford are C for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 16.2% of residents live below the poverty line; Indiana has 12.3%. About one in four stay in Bedford for work; outside it, Bloomington is the main destination (15%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Income, poverty and work: Bedford’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bedford is better than 35% of U.S. towns, #448 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Bedford’s grade up (2.3%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($49,553, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bedford could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Bedford
On a workday 3,873 residents head out to work, 1,432 work right here, and 6,198 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Bedford on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Bedford to work: where people go
Where Bedford clocks in
15% of workers
6% 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 kinds of work in Bedford
7,630 jobs are based in Bedford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bedford, 2013 → 2023: 7,552 → 7,630. 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 Bedford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Bedford: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bedford workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,127 commuters (the 6% 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 Bedford goes to work
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.
Getting around Bedford: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bedford is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #98 of 593 in Indiana. Both inputs place Bedford near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,539 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). 10.5% of Bedford households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bedford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bedford is 1,673rd of 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Whitestown IN | 15,767 | $124K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 92 | McCordsville IN | 13,094 | $111K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Brown Township IN | 15,523 | $140K | 2.3% | 2.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,671 | Pleasant Township OH | 10,983 | $61K | 12.3% | 4.7% | 38% | C |
| 1,672 | Fort Lupton CO | 10,402 | $81K | 17.6% | 8.4% | 8% | C |
| 1,673 | Bedford IN | 13,962 | $50K | 16.2% | 2.3% | 27% | C |
| 1,674 | Polk Township MO | 13,673 | $57K | 19.7% | 2.4% | 47% | C |
| 1,675 | Vienna Township MI | 13,001 | $70K | 12.3% | 7.2% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Bedford, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
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 Bedford: questions
What is the median household income in Bedford?
$49,553 (±$6,176) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bedford?
16.2%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bedford?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bedford work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bloomington (15%, 21 mi), Indianapolis (6%, 66 mi), Mitchell (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bedford walkable?
Bedford is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bedford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bedford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bedford
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.