Photo: Reporter1998 · Public domainUnemployment in Brownstown (1.6%) is lower than in 89% of U.S. towns
Brownstown grades B− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. For 3% of workers, the job is at home; Indiana has 11%. About one in seven work in Brownstown; the top destination outside it is Seymour (24%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Brownstown in brief
Brownstown trades workers with the towns around it
Brownstown has about as many jobs (1,360) as working residents (1,348), but they are mostly different people: 1,122 residents leave for work each day while 1,134 people come in. Only 17% of the jobs in Brownstown are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Brownstown workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 11% across Indiana. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
How Brownstown earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brownstown is better than 49% of U.S. towns, #326 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Brownstown’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($62,756, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brownstown could be anywhere from C to B+.
Who leaves Brownstown for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,122 residents head out to work, 226 work right here, and 1,134 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 (1.01 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.
Time on the road from Brownstown: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brownstown workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,163 commuters (the 3% 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 Brownstown to work: where people go
Where Brownstown clocks in
24% of workers
10% 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.
What work there is in Brownstown: 1,360 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brownstown, 2013 → 2023: 1,061 → 1,360. 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 Brownstown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Brownstown commutes
About 25% 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.
In Brownstown, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brownstown is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns, #358 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,197 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). 3.5% of Brownstown households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brownstown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Brownstown places 2,309th of 4,698 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Clark Township IN | 3,026 | $138K | 5.2% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Milan Township IN | 4,066 | $120K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Georgetown IN | 3,855 | $113K | 2.1% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,307 | Morgan Township OH | 2,350 | $78K | 11.3% | 2.8% | 4% | B− |
| 2,308 | Walnut Hill TN | 2,415 | $52K | 5.9% | 3.5% | 1% | B− |
| 2,309 | Brownstown IN | 3,154 | $63K | 10.7% | 1.6% | 17% | B− |
| 2,310 | East Lansdowne PA | 2,703 | $69K | 13.7% | 5.7% | 2% | B− |
| 2,311 | Tatman Township ND | 2,673 | $61K | 2.4% | 12.9% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | 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 Brownstown, 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 Brownstown: questions
What is the median household income in Brownstown?
$62,756 (±$6,286) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brownstown?
10.7%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brownstown?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brownstown work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seymour (24%, 10 mi), Indianapolis (10%, 62 mi), Columbus (7%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brownstown walkable?
Brownstown is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brownstown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brownstown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brownstown
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.