Photo: Nyttend · Public domainEvansville’s household incomes are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Evansville C; getting around on foot earns it A−. 18.4% of residents live below the poverty line (Indiana 12.3%). More than half work in Evansville itself; outside it, Indianapolis draws the most (3%, 144 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Evansville in brief
Evansville is where the jobs are
Evansville has 87,020 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Evansville are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 46 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.
Evansville’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Evansville is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #462 of 593 in Indiana. Job access by car holds Evansville’s grade up (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($53,387, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Evansville could be anywhere from C to C+.
How many people are in Evansville by day
On a workday 20,574 residents head out to work, 30,488 work right here, and 56,532 people come in from elsewhere.
About 152,000 people are in Evansville on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 trip to work from Evansville: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Evansville workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 52,267 commuters (the 6% 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 daily trip into Evansville
Where Evansville clocks in
3% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
The kinds of work in Evansville
87,020 jobs are based in Evansville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Evansville, 2013 → 2023: 87,159 → 87,020. 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 Evansville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Evansville’s workers travel
About 16% 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.
In Evansville, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Evansville is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #50 of 593 in Indiana. Both inputs place Evansville 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 55,430 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). 10.2% of Evansville households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Evansville’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Evansville next to U.S. towns of 81,000 to 157,000: 309th of 364 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 307 | Gainesville FL | 148,671 | $46K | 30.8% | 5.5% | 53% | C |
| 308 | El Cajon CA | 101,755 | $68K | 20.5% | 9.6% | 15% | C |
| 309 | Evansville IN | 116,176 | $53K | 18.4% | 5.1% | 60% | C |
| 310 | Lawrence MA | 89,320 | $60K | 17.6% | 8.5% | 22% | C |
| 311 | Springfield IL | 112,989 | $66K | 16.8% | 6.8% | 64% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 364 | Lawton OK | 90,503 | $54K | 21.1% | 8.1% | 55% | 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 Evansville, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
How Evansville compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Evansville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evansville | – | C | A− | 18 min | $53,387 |
| Pigeon Township | 1% | C− | A | 18 min | $42,766 |
| Melody Hill | under 1% | A | C− | 21 min | $93,906 |
| Highland | under 1% | B | C− | 20 min | $98,002 |
| Knight Township | under 1% | C+ | A− | 19 min | $58,227 |
| Center Township | 3% | B+ | C+ | 21 min | $78,964 |
| Ohio Township | 3% | A− | C+ | 23 min | $92,550 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Center Township. Darker towns draw more of Evansville’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 Evansville: questions
What is the median household income in Evansville?
$53,387 (±$1,841) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Evansville?
18.4%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Evansville?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Evansville work?
60% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (3%, 144 mi), Patoka Township (3%, 25 mi), Ohio Township (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Evansville walkable?
Evansville is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Evansville without a car?
1% 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 Evansville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Evansville
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.