Photo: TheSongbook · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Carmel top those of 94% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 3.9%, where Indiana as a whole has 12.3%. Carmel grades A+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. At home: 27% of workers have no commute at all (Indiana 11%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Carmel and work: the main findings
Much of Carmel works one town over
56% of working residents work in a town that borders Carmel: Indianapolis (47%), Fishers (3%) and Westfield (3%). Next door ↓
A lot of Carmel works from home
27% of Carmel workers work from home, against 11% across Indiana. Time on the road ↓
Carmel is where the jobs are
Carmel has 75,709 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Carmel has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Carmel went from 56,083 in 2013 to 75,709 in 2023, +35%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Carmel gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carmel is better than 97% of U.S. towns, #13 of 593 in Indiana. Household income is its strongest input ($141,505, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carmel could be anywhere from A to A+.
About 25 minutes each way for Carmel’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carmel workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 38,897 commuters (the 27% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Carmel
On a workday 37,466 residents head out to work, 10,901 work right here, and 64,808 people come in from elsewhere.
About 133,000 people are in Carmel 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.
68% of the jobs in Carmel pay over $3,333 a month
75,709 jobs are based in Carmel.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carmel, 2013 → 2023: 56,083 → 75,709. 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 Carmel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Carmel live
Where Carmel clocks in
47% 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.
How many miles Carmel commutes
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 Carmel, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carmel is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #169 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% of 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 53,591 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). 2.5% of Carmel households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Carmel’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
6th of 411: where Carmel ranks among U.S. towns of 74,000 to 143,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 4 | Fall Creek Township IN | 75,188 | $146K | 3.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A+ |
| 5 | Ellicott City MD | 75,257 | $157K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 8% | A+ |
| 6 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 7 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 8 | Franklin TN | 90,226 | $120K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 31% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Noblesville IN | 76,111 | $104K | 5.3% | 2.9% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 138 | Washington Township IN | 140,572 | $77K | 9.1% | 3.3% | 18% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 411 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Carmel, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
56% of Carmel works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Indianapolis (47%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carmel workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carmel | – | A+ | B | 25 min | $141,505 |
| Clay Township | under 1% | A+ | B | 25 min | $142,449 |
| Delaware Township | under 1% | A | B | 24 min | $102,471 |
| Fishers | 3% | A+ | B− | 27 min | $130,203 |
| Zionsville | 1% | A+ | C+ | 23 min | $172,024 |
| Washington Township | under 1% | B+ | A− | 23 min | $77,416 |
| Indianapolis | 47% | B− | A− | 25 min | $66,307 |
| Noblesville Township | under 1% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Noblesville | 2% | A | C+ | 27 min | $104,047 |
| Westfield | 3% | A+ | B− | 25 min | $122,789 |
| Westfield Washington Township | under 1% | A | B− | 25 min | $120,664 |
Same-state neighbors only. Noblesville Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Carmel’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Carmel: questions
What is the median household income in Carmel?
$141,505 (±$6,599) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carmel?
3.9%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carmel?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carmel work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (47%, 13 mi), Fishers (3%, 10 mi), Westfield (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carmel walkable?
Carmel is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carmel without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carmel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carmel
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.