Solomon Fowler Mansion · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainA job hub: Bristol has 6.7 jobs per working resident, and 5,535 people come in to work
For jobs and income Bristol is better than 78% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (C+). Employers in Bristol report 5,621 jobs; 844 of its residents have a job. About one in ten stay in Bristol for work; outside it, Elkhart is the main destination (30%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Bristol apart
Bristol fills up on a workday
Bristol has 5,621 jobs, 6.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,600 people are in town, 4 times the 1,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Bristol makes and builds things
66% of the jobs based in Bristol are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bristol residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 51%. The jobs ↓
Bristol and Elkhart trade workers both ways
Elkhart is the top workplace for Bristol residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in Bristol come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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; with 844 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Bristol’s grade
Unemployment is its strongest input (1.8%, U.S. 5.2%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($77,188, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bristol could be anywhere from B− to A.
In and out of Bristol on a workday
On a workday 758 residents head out to work and 86 work right here.
About 6,600 people are in Bristol on a workday afternoon, 263% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Goods, not services: 66% of the jobs in Bristol
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bristol, 2013 → 2023: 4,084 → 5,621. 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 Bristol’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who travels to work in Bristol, and from where
Where Bristol clocks in
30% of workers
10% 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.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Bristol
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bristol workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 964 commuters (the 8% 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.
Bristol’s commute, mile by mile
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.
The commute in Bristol is mostly behind the wheel
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Indiana, on an EPA index of 5.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,051 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). 10.0% of Bristol households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bristol’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500, Bristol comes 773rd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Meridian Hills IN | 1,800 | $212K | 0.8% | 3.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Galena IN | 1,549 | $128K | 1.8% | 4.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | Foxcliff Estates IN | 1,674 | $142K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 771 | Pine Valley CA | 1,786 | $133K | 2.9% | 28.9% | 2% | A− |
| 772 | Lewisville WA | 2,465 | $126K | 3.3% | 3.8% | 1% | A− |
| 773 | Bristol IN | 1,818 | $77K | 7.4% | 1.8% | 10% | A− |
| 774 | Westhampton MA | 1,618 | $100K | 6.5% | 7.7% | 4% | A− |
| 775 | Baden MD | 2,325 | $151K | 2.2% | 7.5% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Bristol, 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 Bristol: questions
What is the median household income in Bristol?
$77,188 (±$17,661) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bristol?
7.4%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bristol?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bristol work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elkhart (30%, 7 mi), Goshen (10%, 10 mi), Washington Township (4%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bristol walkable?
Bristol is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bristol without a car?
<1% 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 Bristol, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bristol
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.