Kokomo High School and Memorial Gymnasium · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Kokomo are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Kokomo is better than 24% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (B). 17.1% of residents are in poverty (Indiana 12.3%). About two in five stay in Kokomo for work; outside it, Indianapolis is the main destination (12%, 48 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Kokomo in brief
Kokomo’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Kokomo is Indianapolis, 48 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (2,840) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Kokomo are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Indiana worker. 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.
Kokomo’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Job access by car holds Kokomo’s grade up (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($55,360, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kokomo could be anywhere from C− to C.
Where in the region Kokomo works
About 16% 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.
How long Kokomo spends getting to work: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kokomo workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23,078 commuters (the 6% 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.
Who commutes out of Kokomo, and who commutes in
On a workday 13,655 residents head out to work, 10,746 work right here, and 19,709 people come in from elsewhere.
About 66,000 people are in Kokomo on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 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 Kokomo goes to work
Where Kokomo clocks in
12% 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.
Goods jobs make up 33% of work in Kokomo
30,455 jobs are based in Kokomo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kokomo, 2013 → 2023: 26,471 → 30,455. 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 Kokomo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Kokomo, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 24,425 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). 9.6% of Kokomo households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Kokomo’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 42,000 to 81,000, and where Kokomo sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Fall Creek Township IN | 75,188 | $146K | 3.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Westfield IN | 66,258 | $123K | 3.6% | 2.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Westfield Washington Township IN | 70,020 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 673 | Joplin MO | 53,930 | $52K | 16.9% | 5.3% | 50% | C |
| 674 | Weslaco TX | 44,203 | $60K | 23.2% | 7.1% | 26% | C− |
| 675 | Kokomo IN | 59,999 | $55K | 17.1% | 6.2% | 44% | C− |
| 676 | Ocala FL | 71,753 | $56K | 21.1% | 5.9% | 44% | C− |
| 677 | Biloxi MS | 48,516 | $57K | 16.4% | 7.7% | 35% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 737 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Kokomo, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Kokomo and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kokomo workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kokomo | – | C− | B | 19 min | $55,360 |
| Center Township | under 2% | C− | B | 19 min | $51,025 |
| Clay Township | under 2% | A | D | 21 min | $104,292 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kokomo’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 Kokomo: questions
What is the median household income in Kokomo?
$55,360 (±$2,848) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kokomo?
17.1%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kokomo?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kokomo work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (12%, 48 mi), Carmel (3%, 34 mi), Lafayette (2%, 39 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kokomo walkable?
Kokomo is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kokomo without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kokomo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kokomo
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.