Center Township’s family incomes are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns
Not counting college students, poverty touches 22.1% of residents; Indiana has 11.5%. For jobs and income Center Township is better than 20% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (A). About two in five work in Center Township itself; outside it, Muncie draws the most (38%, 1 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Center Township
Center Township and Muncie trade workers both ways
Muncie is the top workplace for Center Township residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Center Township come from (30% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Center Township 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Center Township
Job access by car holds Center Township’s grade up (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns); family income pulls it down ($61,108, U.S. $99,999).
22% of Center Township’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (15% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 22.1%, against 29.0% for all residents. Unemployment (7.7%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($61,108), since student households pull the household median down ($44,165).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Center Township stays C−.
Where Center Township’s working residents head each day
Where Center Township clocks in
38% of workers
11% of workers
4% 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.
Time on the road from Center Township: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Center Township workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,928 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.
Center Township by day and by night
On a workday 13,181 residents head out to work, 9,252 work right here, and 22,461 people come in from elsewhere.
About 74,000 people are in Center Township on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.41 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.
What the 31,713 jobs in Center Township are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Center Township, 2013 → 2023: 33,372 → 31,713. 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 Center Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Center Township
About 22% 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.
Center Township is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 29,210 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). 10.8% of Center Township households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Center Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Center Township compares with U.S. towns of 45,000 to 88,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Fall Creek Township IN | 75,188 | $146K | 3.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Westfield IN | 66,258 | $123K | 3.6% | 2.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Westfield Washington Township IN | 70,020 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 668 | Lorain OH | 65,366 | $49K | 25.2% | 6.3% | 15% | C− |
| 669 | Jonesboro AR | 83,296 | $55K | 22.8% | 6.3% | 64% | C− |
| 670 | Center Township IN | 64,861 | $44K | 29.0% | 7.7% | 41% | C− |
| 671 | Muncie IN | 65,466 | $44K | 29.2% | 7.8% | 39% | C− |
| 672 | Pontiac MI | 62,077 | $44K | 24.4% | 10.1% | 12% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 705 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Center Township, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
The towns next door employ 41% of Center Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Center Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center Township | – | C− | A | 19 min | $44,165 |
| Monroe Township | 1% | B+ | C− | 24 min | $92,083 |
| Hamilton Township | under 2% | B+ | D− | 21 min | $74,274 |
| Liberty Township | under 2% | B− | D | 26 min | $74,457 |
| Muncie | 38% | C− | A | 18 min | $44,471 |
| Yorktown | 2% | A− | C | 21 min | $81,674 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Muncie. Darker towns draw more of Center Township’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.
- Students. 22% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Center Township: questions
What is the median household income in Center Township?
$44,165 (±$2,252) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Center Township?
29.0% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 22.1%. Indiana: 12.3%.
How long is the commute from Center Township?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Center Township work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Muncie (38%, 1 mi), Indianapolis (11%, 49 mi), Anderson (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Center Township walkable?
Center Township is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Center Township without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Center Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Center Township
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.