Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWith 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Colfax works elsewhere
There are 35 jobs in Colfax; 308 of its residents have a job. Hardly any work in Colfax itself; outside it, Frankfort draws the most (23%, 9 miles). A typical one-way commute from Colfax lasts 29 minutes (Indiana 24, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Colfax apart on work
Colfax is a place people come home to
There are 35 jobs based in Colfax, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Colfax has about 440 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Colfax and Frankfort trade workers both ways
Frankfort is the top workplace for Colfax residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Colfax come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Colfax workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Indiana. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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; with 308 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Colfax on a workday afternoon
On a workday 307 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 34 people come in from elsewhere.
About 440 people are in Colfax on a workday afternoon, 38% 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.
Commuting out of Colfax: the destinations
Where Colfax clocks in
23% of workers
6% 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.
Commuting from Colfax: about 29 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Colfax workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 369 commuters (the 9% 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 Colfax
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Colfax, 2013 → 2023: 73 → 35. 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 Colfax’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Colfax
About 17% 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.
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 Colfax: questions
What is the median household income in Colfax?
$63,281 (±$13,286) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Colfax?
8.2%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Colfax?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Colfax work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Frankfort (23%, 9 mi), Lafayette (20%, 18 mi), Indianapolis (6%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Colfax without a car?
0% 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 Colfax, from the people who make the trip.
More of Colfax
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.