Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Elwood trail those of 84% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Elwood C−; getting around on foot earns it C+. 19.5% of residents are in poverty, against 12.3% across Indiana. About one in seven work in Elwood; the top destination outside it is Indianapolis (18%, 38 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Elwood in brief
Elwood’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Elwood is Indianapolis, 38 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (613) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Elwood makes and builds things
42% of the jobs based in Elwood are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Elwood residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 28%. The jobs ↓
Elwood has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Elwood went from 1,835 in 2014 to 2,682 in 2024, +46%. The jobs ↓
Elwood 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Elwood earns its Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Elwood’s grade up (ahead of 53% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elwood could be anywhere from D to C+.
How far Elwood goes to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
42% of the jobs in Elwood make or build things
2,682 jobs are based in Elwood.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elwood, 2014 → 2024: 1,835 → 2,682. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Elwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Elwood: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elwood workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,891 commuters (the 5% 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.
A workday in Elwood: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,906 residents head out to work, 586 work right here, and 2,096 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,700 people are in Elwood on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Elwood: the destinations
Where Elwood clocks in
18% 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.
In Elwood, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elwood is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #334 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% 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 4,076 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). 5.8% of Elwood households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 6,000 to 11,500, Elwood ranks 2,552nd of 2,922 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Worth Township IN | 6,688 | $123K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 161 | Miller Township IN | 10,161 | $113K | 3.0% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 180 | Lakes of the Four Seasons IN | 7,402 | $122K | 3.1% | 0.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,550 | Farmersville CA | 10,326 | $61K | 22.9% | 8.0% | 6% | C− |
| 2,551 | Bryan OH | 8,579 | $53K | 19.0% | 5.6% | 36% | C− |
| 2,552 | Elwood IN | 8,525 | $53K | 19.5% | 6.2% | 17% | C− |
| 2,553 | Blackwell OK | 6,029 | $53K | 14.6% | 4.3% | 21% | C− |
| 2,554 | Good Hope CA | 8,816 | $57K | 27.4% | 9.1% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,922 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Elwood, 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 2024, 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 Elwood: questions
What is the median household income in Elwood?
$53,280 (±$3,126) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elwood?
19.5%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elwood?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elwood work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (18%, 38 mi), Noblesville (7%, 19 mi), Anderson (6%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Elwood walkable?
Elwood is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elwood without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elwood
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.