Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Hope has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 449 jobs in Hope, and 883 of its residents work somewhere. Hope grades B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in ten work in Hope itself; outside it, Columbus draws the most (38%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Hope apart
38% of Hope works in Columbus
335 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Columbus, 11 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in Hope itself. The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Hope
61% of Hope residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 42% of the jobs based in Hope pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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; with 883 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Hope’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hope is better than 64% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Hope’s grade up (1.9%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hope could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Out of Hope to work: where people go
Where Hope clocks in
38% of workers
8% 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.
What Hope’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hope, 2013 → 2023: 437 → 449. 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 Hope’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Hope, and who commutes in
On a workday 812 residents head out to work, 71 work right here, and 378 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Hope 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.
Time on the road from Hope: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hope workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 985 commuters (the 10% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Hope
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.
Driving is how Hope gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hope is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Hope 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 1,097 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). 2.9% of Hope households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hope’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hope places 1,458th of 5,404 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Meridian Hills IN | 1,800 | $212K | 0.8% | 3.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Galena IN | 1,549 | $128K | 1.8% | 4.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 165 | Foxcliff Estates IN | 1,674 | $142K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,456 | Findley Township PA | 2,827 | $91K | 6.1% | 5.3% | 3% | B |
| 1,457 | Sylvan Springs AL | 1,600 | $82K | 10.7% | 3.5% | 2% | B |
| 1,458 | Hope IN | 2,181 | $76K | 8.9% | 1.9% | 8% | B |
| 1,459 | Mona UT | 1,964 | $115K | 5.7% | 1.0% | 3% | B |
| 1,460 | Bennington NH | 1,518 | $84K | 4.0% | 5.8% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Hope, 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 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 Hope: questions
What is the median household income in Hope?
$76,188 (±$11,348) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hope?
8.9%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hope?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hope work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbus (38%, 10 mi), Indianapolis (8%, 39 mi), Shelbyville (3%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hope walkable?
Hope is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hope without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hope, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hope
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.