Photo: Brianboramha11 · CC BY-SA 4.0Berne has lower household incomes than 70% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Berne are C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in three work in Berne; the top destination outside it is Decatur (9%, 12 miles). Commuters spend 20 minutes getting to work on average; the Indiana average is 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Berne, in brief
Berne makes and builds things
53% of the jobs based in Berne are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Berne residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 37%. The jobs ↓
Berne is where the jobs are
Berne has 2,972 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. 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.
Where Berne’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Berne is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #444 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Berne’s grade up (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($62,159, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Berne could be anywhere from D to B+.
Goods, not services: 53% of the jobs in Berne
2,972 jobs are based in Berne.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Berne, 2013 → 2023: 2,587 → 2,972. 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 Berne’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Berne fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,239 residents head out to work, 633 work right here, and 2,339 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,400 people are in Berne on a workday afternoon, 26% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Berne’s workers come from
Where Berne clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
About 20 minutes to work from Berne
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Berne workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,708 commuters (the 10% 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.
Miles to work from Berne
About 18% 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.
Berne is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Berne is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #44 of 593 in Indiana. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Indiana, on an EPA index of 7.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,889 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). 7.8% of Berne households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Berne’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Berne is 2,707th of 4,039 U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Clark Township IN | 3,026 | $138K | 5.2% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Milan Township IN | 4,066 | $120K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,705 | Bar Harbor ME | 5,352 | $77K | 10.1% | 4.4% | 57% | C+ |
| 2,706 | River Park FL | 5,714 | $55K | 6.7% | 9.5% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,707 | Berne IN | 4,286 | $62K | 12.3% | 4.0% | 34% | C+ |
| 2,708 | Throop PA | 4,113 | $57K | 14.7% | 5.3% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,709 | Princeton WV | 5,578 | $44K | 16.9% | 1.6% | 26% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | 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 Berne, 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 Berne: questions
What is the median household income in Berne?
$62,159 (±$21,397) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Berne?
12.3%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Berne?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Berne work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Decatur (9%, 12 mi), Fort Wayne (8%, 31 mi), Bluffton (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Berne walkable?
Berne is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Berne without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Berne, from the people who make the trip.
More of Berne
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.