Photo: James Brosher · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Dunkirk are lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 22.6% of residents (Indiana 12.3%). Jobs and income earn Dunkirk D; getting around on foot earns it B. Only 7% stay in Dunkirk for work; outside it, Portland is the main destination (15%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Dunkirk and work: the main findings
Dunkirk makes and builds things
64% of the jobs based in Dunkirk are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Dunkirk residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 39%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Dunkirk pay better than its residents’ jobs
73% of the jobs based in Dunkirk pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 50% of the jobs Dunkirk residents hold. 88% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Dunkirk. 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; with 942 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Dunkirk’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Dunkirk is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Dunkirk’s grade up (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($46,339, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (4.9%) is left out: Dunkirk’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Dunkirk could be anywhere from D− to C−.
64% of the jobs in Dunkirk make or build things
591 jobs are based in Dunkirk.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dunkirk, 2013 → 2023: 593 → 591. 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 Dunkirk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Dunkirk
On a workday 873 residents head out to work, 69 work right here, and 522 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Dunkirk on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.63 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Dunkirk’s residents
Where Dunkirk clocks in
15% of workers
12% 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.
From Dunkirk, about 28 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dunkirk workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 809 commuters (the 3% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Dunkirk
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.
Getting around Dunkirk: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dunkirk is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Dunkirk near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 836 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). 10.3% of Dunkirk households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dunkirk’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,148 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800, Dunkirk comes 4,552nd 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Meridian Hills IN | 1,800 | $212K | 0.8% | 3.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Galena IN | 1,549 | $128K | 1.8% | 4.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 156 | Foxcliff Estates IN | 1,674 | $142K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,550 | Danville AR | 1,961 | $64K | 26.0% | 7.3% | 13% | D |
| 4,551 | Lavonia GA | 2,200 | $37K | 26.8% | 11.6% | 17% | D |
| 4,552 | Dunkirk IN | 2,097 | $46K | 22.6% | 4.9% | 7% | D |
| 4,553 | Baldwin LA | 1,676 | $32K | 26.9% | 1.2% | 2% | D |
| 4,554 | Harris Township MI | 2,088 | $55K | 15.4% | 5.2% | 23% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Dunkirk, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Dunkirk and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dunkirk workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunkirk | – | D | B | 28 min | $46,339 |
| Niles Township | under 3% | B | D− | 25 min | $65,750 |
| Jackson Township | under 3% | B− | D− | 33 min | $68,750 |
| Richland Township | under 3% | D | B− | 25 min | $50,160 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dunkirk’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 Dunkirk: questions
What is the median household income in Dunkirk?
$46,339 (±$12,410) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dunkirk?
22.6%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dunkirk?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dunkirk work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (15%, 13 mi), Muncie (12%, 16 mi), Indianapolis (5%, 64 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dunkirk walkable?
Dunkirk is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dunkirk without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dunkirk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dunkirk
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.