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Marshall - CenterPhoto: Evking22 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Jobs & commute in Center Township

Fewer people are out of work in Center Township (3.0%) than in 70% of U.S. towns

The average commute takes 22 minutes each way; Indiana averages 24, the U.S. 26. Center Township grades B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in three work in Center Township; the top destination outside it is Plymouth (34%, 3 miles).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

What stands out · In brief

The commute and the jobs: Center Township in brief

Center Township and Plymouth trade workers both ways

Plymouth is the top workplace for Center Township residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Center Township come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓

Center Township makes and builds things

35% of the jobs based in Center Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Center Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 40%. 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.

Jobs & income grade

Jobs & income in Center Township: the grade in detail

On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Center Township is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #320 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Center Township’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($67,867, U.S. $80,734).

Household income $67,867 (±$6,716) · IN $71,957 · U.S. $80,734Higher than 38% of U.S. towns
Poverty 11.1% · IN 12.3% · U.S. 12.5%Lower than 43% of U.S. towns
Unemployment 3.0% (±1.2) · IN 4.3% · U.S. 5.2%Lower than 70% of U.S. towns
Job access by car EPA, jobs within a 45-minute driveMore than 47% of U.S. towns
Indiana towns we grade 593 towns#320 of 593
CB+

A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Center Township could be anywhere from C to B+.

How TownRatings grades jobs & income →

★ What stands out · The commute map

Where Center Township goes to work

ArgosBremen: 228 residents work here (3%)Nappanee: 147 residents work here (2%)Plymouth: 2,265 residents work here (34%)Warsaw: 194 residents work here (3%)Goshen: 166 residents work here (3%)Mishawaka: 236 residents work here (4%)South Bend: 405 residents work here (6%)Elkhart: 279 residents work here (4%)Fort Wayne: 216 residents work here (3%)North TownshipGerman TownshipWest TownshipPolk TownshipGreen TownshipBourbon TownshipCenter TownshipIndianapolisPlymouthSouth BendElkhartMishawakaBremenFort WayneCenter Township
1
Plymouth3.1 mi away
34%2,265
2
South Bend24.3 mi away
6%405
3
Elkhart29.9 mi away
4%279
4
Mishawaka24.9 mi away
4%236
5
Bremen10.5 mi away
3%228
6
Fort Wayne60.8 mi away
3%216
7
Warsaw22.5 mi away
3%194
8
Goshen28.5 mi away
3%166
9
Nappanee16.4 mi away
2%147
10
Center Township (in town)right here
2%131
Everywhere elseother towns and states
35%2,325
The top trips

Where Center Township clocks in

Lines 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.

The jobs

Center Township makes things: 35% of its jobs are in goods

8,524 jobs are based in Center Township.

Jobs based in Center TownshipJobs Center Township residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms35%40%
Trade, transport & utilities18%14%
Services: health, schools, offices47%46%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less16%15%
$1,251–$3,333 a month31%29%
Over $3,333 a month54%56%

Who does it

29 or younger25%26%
30 to 5449%50%
55 and older26%24%
−4%

Jobs based in Center Township, 2013 → 2023: 8,891 → 8,524. 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.

Day and night

Who commutes out of Center Township, and who commutes in

On a workday 4,305 residents head out to work, 2,287 work right here, and 6,237 people come in from elsewhere.

4,305live here, work elsewhere
2,287live and work here
6,237work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night16,000
Workday18,000
16,000live here− 4,300head out to work+ 6,200come in to work= 18,000on a workday

About 18,000 people are in Center Township on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
1.29jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 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

Time on the road from Center Township: about 22 minutes

A year of commuting
166 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Center Township22 min
Indiana24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
6%

of Center Township workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Center Township gets to work
81%Drive alone
15%Carpool
<1%Transit
2%Walk
1%Bike
2%Other

Share of the 7,527 commuters (the 6% 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.

How far

How many miles Center Township commutes

10 mi25 mi50 mi70 miPlymouth: 34% · 3.1 miSouth Bend: 6% · 24.3 miElkhart: 4% · 29.9 miMishawaka: 4% · 24.9 miBremen: 3% · 10.5 miFort Wayne: 3% · 60.8 miWarsaw: 3% · 22.5 miGoshen: 3% · 28.5 miNappanee: 2% · 16.4 miPlymouth 34%South Bend 6%Elkhart 4%Mishawaka 4%Bremen 3%Center Township
Center TownshipTop destinations (size = commuters)
41%Under 10 mi2,718 residents
24%10–24 mi1,550 residents
20%25–50 mi1,338 residents
15%Over 50 mi982 residents

About 15% 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.

Getting around · Walkability grade

The commute in Center Township is mostly behind the wheel

On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Center Township is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns, #244 of 593 in Indiana. Both inputs place Center Township near the same point nationally.

EPA walkability index 6.6 of 20 · typical IN town 5.6 · U.S. 6.9Higher than 45% of U.S. towns
Walk, bike or transit 2.9% of commuters · IN 3.3% · U.S. 7.1%Higher than 58% of U.S. towns
Indiana towns we grade 593 towns#244 of 593
B−B−

A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,996 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). 4.7% of Center Township households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Center Township’s commuters take a bus or train.

Towns its size

Ranked on jobs and income, Center Township is 1,414th among 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000

#TownPeopleHousehold incomePovertyUnemploymentWork in townGrade
1New Albany OH11,803$238K1.4%0.9%11%A+
2Plain Township OH13,257$219K2.1%0.8%10%A+
3Rogers MN15,606$159K1.9%1.2%10%A+
…
49Whitestown IN15,767$124K2.8%1.6%6%A+
…
84McCordsville IN13,094$111K0.9%2.4%3%A+
…
96Brown Township IN15,523$140K2.3%2.8%3%A+
…
1,412Norwood OH19,658$72K17.5%4.6%7%B−
1,413Platteville WI11,815$43K23.9%4.9%32%B−
1,414Center Township IN16,383$68K11.1%3.0%35%B−
1,415Lakewood Park FL13,866$64K9.4%3.4%3%B−
1,416Irmo SC12,204$80K9.2%8.4%5%B−
…
2,220Douglas AZ16,038$42K27.8%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 Center Township, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.

Next door

How Center Township compares with the towns next door

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Green Township18 min
German Township20 min
Bourbon Township20 min
North Township21 min
Center Township22 min
West Township26 min

Jobs & commute next door

TownCenter Township workers thereJobs & incomeWalkabilityCommuteHousehold income
Center Township–B−B−22 min$67,867
North Townshipunder 2%BC+21 min$73,125
German Townshipunder 2%BB+20 min$79,175
Bourbon Townshipunder 2%BB20 min$75,804
West Townshipunder 2%A−C−26 min$88,935
Green Townshipunder 2%B+B−18 min$96,875

Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.

Darker towns draw more of Center Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Center Township: questions

What is the median household income in Center Township?

$67,867 (±$6,716) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Center Township?

11.1%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Center Township?

22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Center Township work?

35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Plymouth (34%, 3 mi), South Bend (6%, 24 mi), Elkhart (4%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Is Center Township walkable?

Center Township is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.

Can you get around Center Township without a car?

<1% of commuters take transit and 5% 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.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Center Township

Center Township home →

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.