Photo: deathpallie325 · CC BY-SA 4.0For more than half of its working residents, Beech Grove is a commute to Indianapolis
Beech Grove grades B− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Measured by household income, Beech Grove is behind 88% of U.S. towns. Only 5% work in Beech Grove itself; outside it, Indianapolis draws the most (60%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Beech Grove apart
More than half of Beech Grove works in Indianapolis
3,949 working residents, 60%, have their main job in Indianapolis, 5.3 miles away. That’s 12 times as many as work in Beech Grove itself. The commute map ↓
Beech Grove trades workers with the towns around it
Beech Grove has about as many jobs (7,228) as working residents (6,584), but they are mostly different people: 6,269 residents leave for work each day while 6,913 people come in. Only 4% of the jobs in Beech Grove are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Beech Grove
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Beech Grove is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #334 of 593 in Indiana. Job access by car holds Beech Grove’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($49,973, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Beech Grove could be anywhere from C to B+.
Out of Beech Grove to work: where people go
Where Beech Grove clocks in
60% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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 daily commute in and out of Beech Grove
On a workday 6,269 residents head out to work, 315 work right here, and 6,913 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.10 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.
Factories, building and farms: 29% of the jobs in Beech Grove
7,228 jobs are based in Beech Grove.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Beech Grove, 2013 → 2023: 6,850 → 7,228. 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 Beech Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Indiana
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Beech Grove workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,535 commuters (the 7% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Beech Grove
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 Beech Grove, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Beech Grove is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #208 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% of 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 7,064 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 79% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 38% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.7% of Beech Grove households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Beech Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000, Beech Grove comes 1,510th 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Whitestown IN | 15,767 | $124K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | McCordsville IN | 13,094 | $111K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Brown Township IN | 15,523 | $140K | 2.3% | 2.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,508 | Berkley CO | 10,789 | $85K | 14.1% | 8.7% | 2% | B− |
| 1,509 | New Port Richey FL | 18,299 | $48K | 10.5% | 3.0% | 6% | B− |
| 1,510 | Beech Grove IN | 14,671 | $50K | 11.1% | 4.4% | 5% | B− |
| 1,511 | Greencastle Township IN | 12,807 | $65K | 9.5% | 3.5% | 42% | B− |
| 1,512 | London OH | 10,813 | $60K | 10.8% | 4.0% | 19% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | 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 Beech Grove, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Around Beech Grove: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Beech Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beech Grove | – | B− | B | 21 min | $49,973 |
| Perry Township | under 1% | B | B+ | 25 min | $66,897 |
| Franklin Township | under 1% | A− | C | 26 min | $97,383 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Beech Grove’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 Beech Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Beech Grove?
$49,973 (±$4,739) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Beech Grove?
11.1%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Beech Grove?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Beech Grove work?
5% work in town.
Is Beech Grove walkable?
Beech Grove is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Beech Grove without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 38% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Beech Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Beech Grove
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.