Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Fort Branch has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Fort Branch grades C+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 538 jobs are based in Fort Branch for 1,458 working residents. Household incomes here are lower than in 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Fort Branch at work: what stands out
Commutes from Fort Branch 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 ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Fort Branch
59% of Fort Branch residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 41% of the jobs based in Fort Branch pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Fort Branch empties out on a workday
About 2,000 people are in Fort Branch on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 2,900 who live here: 1,400 head out to work and 460 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
Inside Fort Branch’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fort Branch is better than 39% of U.S. towns, #416 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Fort Branch’s grade up (2.5%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fort Branch could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Fort Branch’s commute takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fort Branch workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,602 commuters (the 7% 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.
What Fort Branch’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fort Branch, 2014 → 2024: 440 → 538. 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 Fort Branch’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Fort Branch on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,376 residents head out to work, 82 work right here, and 456 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Fort Branch on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
21% of working residents work in Patoka Township
Where Fort Branch clocks in
21% of workers
20% of workers
9% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Fort Branch
About 15% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Fort Branch is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fort Branch is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #285 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 1,726 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). 3.8% of Fort Branch households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fort Branch’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,618 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000, Fort Branch comes 2,727th 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Clark Township IN | 3,026 | $138K | 5.2% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 122 | Georgetown IN | 3,855 | $113K | 2.1% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 190 | Swan Township IN | 2,327 | $112K | 0.7% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,725 | Arlington VT | 2,404 | $102K | 7.5% | 6.9% | 19% | C+ |
| 2,726 | Hansville WA | 3,384 | $92K | 4.1% | 7.8% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,727 | Fort Branch IN | 2,936 | $59K | 17.2% | 2.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,728 | Goshen Township OH | 3,051 | $61K | 4.6% | 12.9% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,729 | Big Lake AK | 3,585 | $81K | 11.4% | 3.1% | — | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 0% | 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 Fort Branch, 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 Fort Branch: questions
What is the median household income in Fort Branch?
$58,707 (±$11,341) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fort Branch?
17.2%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fort Branch?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fort Branch work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Patoka Township (21%, 7 mi), Evansville (20%, 18 mi), Princeton (9%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Fort Branch walkable?
Fort Branch is more walkable than 46% 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 Fort Branch without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fort Branch, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fort Branch
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.