Photo: JoeyBLS · Public domainMost of Griffith commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Griffith has 3,949 jobs, against 7,191 working residents. Jobs and income earn Griffith A−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Only 5% stay in Griffith 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
The commute and the jobs: Griffith in brief
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Griffith’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 28 minutes, longer than the Indiana average of 24. Time on the road ↓
Griffith’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Griffith is Chicago, IL, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (685) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
What’s behind Griffith’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Griffith is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #139 of 593 in Indiana. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($76,636, U.S. $80,734). 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, Griffith could be anywhere from B to A.
The daily trip from Griffith: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Griffith workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,023 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.
How far Griffith’s workers travel
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.
The daily flow of workers through Griffith
On a workday 6,803 residents head out to work, 388 work right here, and 3,561 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Griffith on a workday afternoon, 20% 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 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Griffith’s residents
Where Griffith clocks in
10% of workers
7% 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.
What Griffith’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Griffith, 2013 → 2023: 4,097 → 3,949. 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 Griffith’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Griffith is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Griffith is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns, #249 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% 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 8,487 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). 5.1% of Griffith households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Griffith’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Griffith is 877th of 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 875 | Five Corners WA | 21,194 | $106K | 8.6% | 4.4% | 2% | A− |
| 876 | Elk Plain WA | 14,276 | $107K | 8.3% | 3.0% | 1% | A− |
| 877 | Griffith IN | 16,137 | $77K | 7.1% | 3.8% | 5% | A− |
| 878 | Stonington CT | 18,832 | $115K | 7.0% | 3.5% | 20% | A− |
| 879 | Live Oak TX | 16,426 | $80K | 5.5% | 4.9% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Griffith, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Bordering towns draw 19% of Griffith’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Griffith workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Griffith | – | A− | B− | 28 min | $76,636 |
| Calumet Township | under 5% | C− | B | 27 min | $46,882 |
| Schererville | 5% | B+ | B+ | 31 min | $89,466 |
| Highland | 5% | B | A− | 26 min | $78,062 |
| North Township | under 5% | C+ | A− | 26 min | $61,798 |
| St. John Township | under 5% | A− | B+ | 31 min | $103,035 |
| Gary | 4% | C− | B | 26 min | $38,731 |
| Merrillville | 5% | C+ | B+ | 32 min | $67,587 |
| Ross Township | under 5% | B− | B+ | 32 min | $72,416 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Schererville. Darker towns draw more of Griffith’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 Griffith: questions
What is the median household income in Griffith?
$76,636 (±$5,446) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Griffith?
7.1%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Griffith?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Griffith work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (10%, 25 mi), Hammond (7%, 7 mi), Munster (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Griffith walkable?
Griffith is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Griffith without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Griffith, from the people who make the trip.
More of Griffith
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.