Households in Howe earn less than those in 74% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Howe B; getting around on foot earns it C−. The poverty rate is 2.8% (Indiana 12.3%). Only 2% stay in Howe for work; outside it, Lagrange is the main destination (9%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The four measures behind Howe’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Howe is better than 62% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Howe’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($60,238, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Howe’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Howe could be anywhere from C to A.
Howe by day and by night
On a workday 231 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 258 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 (1.11 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.
Where Howe goes to work
Where Howe clocks in
9% of workers
6% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 57% of the jobs in Howe
262 jobs are based in Howe.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Howe, 2013 → 2023: 242 → 262. 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 Howe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Howe takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Howe workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 527 commuters (the 12% 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 Howe
About 19% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Howe commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Howe is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 602 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). 0.0% of Howe households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Howe’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500, Howe ranks 863rd of 3,771 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Ogden Dunes IN | 1,163 | $117K | 3.9% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Campbell Township IN | 1,172 | $122K | 0.0% | 7.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 138 | Greenville IN | 1,452 | $135K | 5.6% | 4.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 861 | Packer Township PA | 1,029 | $78K | 5.1% | 8.2% | 2% | B |
| 862 | Leroy AL | 1,075 | $93K | 1.0% | 3.9% | 2% | B |
| 863 | Howe IN | 1,092 | $60K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 2% | B |
| 864 | Cleveland AL | 1,262 | $71K | 4.0% | 5.6% | 6% | B |
| 865 | Elgin MN | 1,137 | $92K | 7.6% | 5.2% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Howe, 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 Howe: questions
What is the median household income in Howe?
$60,238 (±$48,100) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Howe?
2.8%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Howe?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Howe work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lagrange (9%, 5 mi), Lima Township (6%, 1 mi), Clay Township (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Howe walkable?
Howe is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Howe without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Howe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Howe
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.