Photo: Daniel Schwen · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Covington have lower incomes than those in 85% of U.S. towns
15.0% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.3% for Indiana as a whole. Jobs and income earn Covington C−; getting around on foot earns it A. About one in seven work in Covington itself; outside it, Danville draws the most (15%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Covington and work: the main findings
Covington trades workers with the towns around it
Covington has about as many jobs (993) as working residents (1,174), but they are mostly different people: 979 residents leave for work each day while 798 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in Covington are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Covington workers cross into Illinois
28% of Covington workers work outside Indiana, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Danville (15%) and Danville Township (3%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Covington are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 54 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.
What’s behind Covington’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Covington is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #521 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Covington’s grade up (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($52,466, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Covington could be anywhere from D to B−.
How a workday changes Covington
On a workday 979 residents head out to work, 195 work right here, and 798 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.85 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.
Out of Covington to work: where people go
Where Covington clocks in
15% of workers
7% 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.
A commute of about 17 minutes in Covington
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Covington workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,300 commuters (the 10% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Covington
993 jobs are based in Covington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Covington, 2013 → 2023: 881 → 993. 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 Covington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Covington
About 26% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Covington
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,438 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). 1.6% of Covington households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Covington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Covington is 3,790th of 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Clark Township IN | 3,026 | $138K | 5.2% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Swan Township IN | 2,327 | $112K | 0.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Wills Township IN | 2,111 | $113K | 1.8% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,788 | Springfield SD | 1,926 | $56K | 7.0% | 5.9% | 15% | C− |
| 3,789 | Hooverson Heights WV | 2,090 | $61K | 13.8% | 8.4% | 2% | C− |
| 3,790 | Covington IN | 2,774 | $52K | 15.0% | 4.3% | 17% | C− |
| 3,791 | Bronson MI | 2,316 | $46K | 20.9% | 2.8% | 8% | C− |
| 3,792 | Overton TX | 2,315 | $52K | 17.0% | 6.0% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Covington, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
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 Covington: questions
What is the median household income in Covington?
$52,466 (±$5,246) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Covington?
15.0%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Covington?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Covington work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Danville (15%, 12 mi), Indianapolis (7%, 70 mi), Lafayette (5%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Covington walkable?
Covington is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Covington without a car?
2% 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 Covington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Covington
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.