Photo: Public domain · Public domainAt 0.5%, unemployment in Bremen is lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Bremen are B− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in four work in Bremen itself; outside it, Nappanee draws the most (9%, 8 miles). Below the poverty line: 25.5% of residents; Indiana has 12.3%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Bremen apart
Bremen makes and builds things
63% of the jobs based in Bremen are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bremen residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 46%. The jobs ↓
Bremen gains people on a workday
About 5,700 people are in Bremen on a workday afternoon, 24% more than the 4,600 who live here: 2,700 come in to work and 1,600 head out. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Bremen 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.
Why Bremen gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bremen is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #308 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Bremen’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bremen could be anywhere from C to B+.
Bremen makes things: 63% of its jobs are in goods
3,312 jobs are based in Bremen.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bremen, 2013 → 2023: 3,150 → 3,312. 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 Bremen’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Bremen: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,628 residents head out to work, 593 work right here, and 2,719 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,700 people are in Bremen on a workday afternoon, 24% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 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, quicker than most of Indiana
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bremen workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,189 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.
Out of Bremen to work: where people go
Where Bremen clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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 distance from Bremen to work
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Bremen
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bremen is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #49 of 593 in Indiana. Both inputs place Bremen 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 2,304 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). 3.0% of Bremen households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bremen’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,200, Bremen ranks 2,004th of 3,938 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 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Milan Township IN | 4,066 | $120K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 128 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Georgetown IN | 3,855 | $113K | 2.1% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,002 | Jackson Township OH | 6,171 | $77K | 12.1% | 4.8% | 7% | B− |
| 2,003 | Granville Township PA | 4,625 | $76K | 6.4% | 3.5% | 12% | B− |
| 2,004 | Bremen IN | 4,592 | $68K | 25.5% | 0.5% | 27% | B− |
| 2,005 | Colby KS | 5,489 | $63K | 8.0% | 0.6% | 56% | B− |
| 2,006 | Auburn Township IL | 5,805 | $81K | 9.6% | 4.5% | 12% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,938 | 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 Bremen, 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 Bremen: questions
What is the median household income in Bremen?
$68,429 (±$31,054) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bremen?
25.5%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bremen?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bremen work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Nappanee (9%, 8 mi), Elkhart (8%, 19 mi), South Bend (7%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bremen walkable?
Bremen is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bremen 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 Bremen, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bremen
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.