Stewart-Studebaker House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Bluffton trail those of 78% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Bluffton itself; outside it, Fort Wayne draws the most (15%, 24 miles). The poverty rate is 9.5%, where Indiana as a whole has 12.3%. Jobs and income earn Bluffton B−; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Bluffton in brief
Bluffton and Fort Wayne trade workers both ways
Fort Wayne is the top workplace for Bluffton residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Bluffton come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Bluffton gains people on a workday
About 13,000 people are in Bluffton on a workday afternoon, 21% more than the 11,000 who live here: 5,300 come in to work and 3,100 head out. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Bluffton are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Indiana worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Bluffton: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bluffton is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #323 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Bluffton’s grade up (2.8%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($57,539, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bluffton could be anywhere from C to B+.
Where Bluffton goes to work
Where Bluffton clocks in
4% 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 flow of workers through Bluffton
On a workday 3,115 residents head out to work, 1,719 work right here, and 5,297 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Bluffton on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 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.
About 19 minutes each way for Bluffton’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bluffton workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,972 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.
What Bluffton’s employers do
7,016 jobs are based in Bluffton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bluffton, 2013 → 2023: 7,517 → 7,016. 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 Bluffton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Bluffton’s workers travel
About 17% 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.
Bluffton is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bluffton is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #112 of 593 in Indiana. Both inputs place Bluffton 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 5,263 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). 7.5% of Bluffton households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bluffton’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Bluffton is 1,713th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | McCordsville IN | 13,094 | $111K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 149 | Miller Township IN | 10,161 | $113K | 3.0% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 172 | Lakes of the Four Seasons IN | 7,402 | $122K | 3.1% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,711 | Waseca MN | 9,035 | $64K | 9.5% | 2.8% | 34% | B− |
| 1,712 | Cedar Creek Township IN | 13,514 | $87K | 9.5% | 6.1% | 10% | B− |
| 1,713 | Bluffton IN | 10,583 | $58K | 9.5% | 2.8% | 36% | B− |
| 1,714 | Hawaiian Paradise Park HI | 13,203 | $88K | 10.4% | 2.8% | 3% | B− |
| 1,715 | Evergreen MT | 9,611 | $76K | 12.1% | 3.4% | 15% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Bluffton, 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 Bluffton: questions
What is the median household income in Bluffton?
$57,539 (±$5,274) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bluffton?
9.5%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bluffton?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bluffton work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Wayne (15%, 24 mi), Lancaster Township (4%, 3 mi), Indianapolis (3%, 84 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bluffton walkable?
Bluffton is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bluffton 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 Bluffton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bluffton
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.