Joseph Ernest Meyer House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainDyer has higher household incomes than 82% of U.S. towns
6.2% of residents are in poverty, where Indiana as a whole has 12.3%. For jobs and income Dyer is better than 86% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (B). Only 7% stay in Dyer for work; outside it, Chicago is the main destination (10%, 25 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Dyer, in brief
Dyer’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Dyer is Chicago, IL, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (657) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Dyer 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.
The figures behind Dyer’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dyer could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Half of Dyer commutes less than 10 miles
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.
From Dyer, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dyer workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,000 commuters (the 12% 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 a workday changes Dyer
On a workday 6,389 residents head out to work, 483 work right here, and 4,527 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Dyer on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.73 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.
Commuting out of Dyer: the destinations
Where Dyer clocks in
10% 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.
Inside Dyer’s 5,010 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dyer, 2013 → 2023: 4,846 → 5,010. 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 Dyer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Dyer, the car does most of the work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.3% across Indiana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,939 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.7% of Dyer households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Dyer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000, Dyer comes 533rd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Whitestown IN | 15,767 | $124K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | McCordsville IN | 13,094 | $111K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Brown Township IN | 15,523 | $140K | 2.3% | 2.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 531 | Glen Allen VA | 17,551 | $93K | 3.6% | 3.9% | 3% | A |
| 532 | San Marino CA | 11,964 | $214K | 6.7% | 5.3% | 7% | A |
| 533 | Dyer IN | 16,273 | $107K | 6.2% | 3.8% | 7% | A |
| 534 | Aberdeen Township NJ | 19,535 | $122K | 3.5% | 5.9% | 4% | A |
| 535 | Granite Bay CA | 21,673 | $185K | 5.1% | 4.5% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 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 Dyer, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Dyer and its neighbors: 14% work next door
The biggest share goes to Munster (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dyer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dyer | – | A | B | 29 min | $107,159 |
| Schererville | 6% | B+ | B+ | 31 min | $89,466 |
| St. John Township | under 3% | A− | B+ | 31 min | $103,035 |
| Munster | 8% | A− | A | 28 min | $110,187 |
| North Township | under 3% | C+ | A− | 26 min | $61,798 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dyer’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 Dyer: questions
What is the median household income in Dyer?
$107,159 (±$16,778) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dyer?
6.2%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dyer?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dyer work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (10%, 25 mi), Munster (8%, 3 mi), Hammond (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dyer walkable?
Dyer is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dyer without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dyer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dyer
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.