Photo: HammondMan · CC BY-SA 4.0Hammond’s household incomes are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 19.1% of residents (Indiana 12.3%). Jobs and income earn Hammond C; getting around on foot earns it A−. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 0.4 in North Township.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Hammond
Hammond trades workers with the towns around it
Hammond has about as many jobs (25,357) as working residents (28,498), but they are mostly different people: 23,449 residents leave for work each day while 20,308 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in Hammond are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Hammond works one town over
30% of working residents work in a town that borders Hammond: Chicago (13%), Munster (5%) and East Chicago (5%). Next door ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Hammond’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hammond is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #454 of 593 in Indiana. Job access by car holds Hammond’s grade up (ahead of 95% 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, Hammond could be anywhere from C to C+.
How a workday changes Hammond
On a workday 23,449 residents head out to work, 5,049 work right here, and 20,308 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 (0.89 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.
13% of working residents work in Chicago
Where Hammond clocks in
13% 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.
What Hammond’s employers do
25,357 jobs are based in Hammond.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hammond, 2013 → 2023: 27,947 → 25,357. 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 Hammond’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Hammond
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hammond workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 31,509 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.
Half of Hammond commutes less than 11 miles
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Hammond
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hammond is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #38 of 593 in Indiana. Both inputs place Hammond 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 33,838 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 10% 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 0.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 55% 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). 8.3% of Hammond households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Hammond’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hammond places 489th of 587 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 53,000 to 102,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Fall Creek Township IN | 75,188 | $146K | 3.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Westfield IN | 66,258 | $123K | 3.6% | 2.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Westfield Washington Township IN | 70,020 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 487 | Victoria TX | 66,500 | $67K | 18.3% | 4.7% | 43% | C |
| 488 | Pocatello ID | 58,771 | $60K | 14.8% | 4.4% | 52% | C |
| 489 | Hammond IN | 75,712 | $56K | 19.1% | 6.5% | 18% | C |
| 490 | Irvington Township NJ | 62,233 | $62K | 19.0% | 9.7% | 4% | C |
| 491 | Port Charlotte FL | 66,133 | $64K | 9.6% | 6.8% | 20% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 587 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Hammond, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
The towns next door employ 30% of Hammond
The biggest share goes to Chicago (13%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hammond workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hammond | – | C | A− | 26 min | $55,504 |
| Highland | 3% | B | A− | 26 min | $78,062 |
| Munster | 5% | A− | A | 28 min | $110,187 |
| North Township | under 2% | C+ | A− | 26 min | $61,798 |
| East Chicago | 5% | C− | A− | 21 min | $42,125 |
| Whiting | under 2% | C+ | A | 31 min | $71,708 |
| Calumet Township | under 2% | C− | B | 27 min | $46,882 |
| Gary | 4% | C− | B | 26 min | $38,731 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hammond’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 Hammond: questions
What is the median household income in Hammond?
$55,504 (±$2,507) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hammond?
19.1%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hammond?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hammond work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (13%, 18 mi), Munster (5%, 5 mi), East Chicago (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hammond walkable?
Hammond is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hammond without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hammond, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hammond
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.