Photo: Steve Shook · CC BY 2.0Cedar Lake has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
Only 6% work in Cedar Lake itself; outside it, Crown Point draws the most (11%, 6 miles). There are 1,899 jobs in Cedar Lake, and 7,304 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Cedar Lake B+; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Cedar Lake
Cedar Lake workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 24 across Indiana. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Cedar Lake pay little
31% of the jobs based in Cedar Lake pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 33% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Cedar Lake
62% of Cedar Lake residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 41% of the jobs based in Cedar Lake pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Cedar Lake is a place people come home to
There are 1,899 jobs based in Cedar Lake, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Cedar Lake has about 11,000 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Cedar Lake’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cedar Lake is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #176 of 593 in Indiana. The poverty rate holds Cedar Lake’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (5.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cedar Lake could be anywhere from B− to A.
Cedar Lake’s commute takes about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cedar Lake workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,219 commuters (the 7% 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 kinds of work in Cedar Lake
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cedar Lake, 2013 → 2023: 1,487 → 1,899. 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 Cedar Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Cedar Lake: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 6,850 residents head out to work, 454 work right here, and 1,445 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Cedar Lake on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer 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.
Where Cedar Lake goes to work
Where Cedar Lake clocks in
11% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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 far it is to work from Cedar Lake
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.
Most trips from Cedar Lake start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cedar Lake is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns, #357 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 7,762 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.8% of Cedar Lake households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Cedar Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000, Cedar Lake comes 895th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Whitestown IN | 15,767 | $124K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | McCordsville IN | 13,094 | $111K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Brown Township IN | 15,523 | $140K | 2.3% | 2.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 893 | Portland TX | 20,833 | $84K | 9.0% | 3.2% | 14% | B+ |
| 894 | Salisbury Township PA | 13,707 | $101K | 7.5% | 6.1% | 9% | B+ |
| 895 | Cedar Lake IN | 16,789 | $83K | 3.5% | 5.5% | 6% | B+ |
| 896 | Stafford TX | 18,043 | $87K | 8.0% | 5.8% | 6% | B+ |
| 897 | Colonial Heights VA | 18,738 | $77K | 7.9% | 3.6% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Cedar Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
The towns around Cedar Lake
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cedar Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Lake | – | B+ | C+ | 32 min | $83,381 |
| Lake Dalecarlia | under 3% | A− | C | 42 min | $118,472 |
| Cedar Creek Township | under 3% | B− | C+ | 34 min | $86,780 |
| West Creek Township | under 3% | B+ | C− | 33 min | $87,346 |
| Hanover Township | under 3% | A | B+ | 32 min | $102,823 |
| Center Township | under 3% | A− | B− | 30 min | $102,336 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cedar Lake’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 Cedar Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Cedar Lake?
$83,381 (±$13,325) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cedar Lake?
3.5%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cedar Lake?
32 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cedar Lake work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Crown Point (11%, 6 mi), Chicago (7%, 34 mi), Merrillville (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cedar Lake walkable?
Cedar Lake is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cedar Lake without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cedar Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cedar Lake
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.