Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Garrett earn less than those in 67% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 2% of workers, next to 11% for Indiana as a whole. Poverty touches 15.3% of residents (Indiana 12.3%). Jobs and income earn Garrett C+; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Garrett at work: what stands out
Garrett trades workers with the towns around it
Garrett has about as many jobs (3,106) as working residents (3,464), but they are mostly different people: 2,919 residents leave for work each day while 2,561 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Garrett are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Garrett and Fort Wayne trade workers both ways
Fort Wayne is the top workplace for Garrett residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Garrett come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Garrett makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Garrett are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Garrett residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 40%. The jobs ↓
Few Garrett workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 11% across Indiana. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 Garrett’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Garrett is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #422 of 593 in Indiana. Job access by car holds Garrett’s grade up (ahead of 64% 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, Garrett could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Who works in Garrett, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,919 residents head out to work, 545 work right here, and 2,561 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
23% of working residents work in Fort Wayne
Where Garrett clocks in
14% 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.
Goods, not services: 40% of the jobs in Garrett
3,106 jobs are based in Garrett.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garrett, 2013 → 2023: 2,460 → 3,106. 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 Garrett’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 20 minutes from Garrett
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garrett workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,371 commuters (the 2% 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.
Miles to work from Garrett
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.
Garrett is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Garrett is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns, #352 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% 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 3,453 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). 5.2% of Garrett households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Garrett’s commuters take a bus or train.
Garrett next to U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,000: 2,170th of 3,201 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Worth Township IN | 6,688 | $123K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 163 | New Whiteland IN | 5,937 | $90K | 3.3% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,168 | Midway City CA | 7,999 | $67K | 18.0% | 6.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,169 | Springfield FL | 8,551 | $54K | 22.3% | 2.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,170 | Garrett IN | 6,694 | $64K | 15.3% | 4.6% | 16% | C+ |
| 2,171 | Princeton IN | 8,524 | $58K | 16.9% | 2.8% | 23% | C+ |
| 2,172 | Newton Township OH | 8,515 | $62K | 11.4% | 5.9% | 11% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,201 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Garrett, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Next door to Garrett
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Garrett workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garrett | – | C+ | C+ | 20 min | $64,179 |
| Altona | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Altona: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Garrett’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 Garrett: questions
What is the median household income in Garrett?
$64,179 (±$7,539) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garrett?
15.3%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garrett?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garrett work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Wayne (23%, 18 mi), Auburn (14%, 4 mi), Kendallville (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Garrett walkable?
Garrett is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garrett without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garrett, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garrett
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.