Work means Fort Wayne for more than half of Lafayette Township’s working residents
Measured by household income, Lafayette Township is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns. Lafayette Township grades A+ for jobs and income and D− for walkability. About one in ten work in Lafayette Township itself; outside it, Fort Wayne draws the most (51%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lafayette Township: the figures worth knowing
Lafayette Township fills up on a workday
Lafayette Township has 7,644 jobs, 3.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 10,000 people are in town, more than double the 4,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
Lafayette Township makes and builds things
71% of the jobs based in Lafayette Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Lafayette Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
More than half of Lafayette Township works in Fort Wayne
1,079 working residents, 51%, have their main job in Fort Wayne, 11 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in Lafayette Township itself. The commute map ↓
Lafayette Township has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Lafayette Township went from 4,804 in 2014 to 7,644 in 2024, +59%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Lafayette Township pay better than its residents’ jobs
81% of the jobs based in Lafayette Township pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 66% of the jobs Lafayette Township residents hold. 97% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Lafayette Township. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Lafayette Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lafayette Township is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #21 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment is its strongest input (1.7%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lafayette Township could be anywhere from A− to A+.
In and out of Lafayette Township on a workday
On a workday 1,906 residents head out to work, 226 work right here, and 7,418 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Lafayette Township on a workday afternoon, 124% more than live here.
3.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Lafayette Township works in goods: 71% of its jobs
7,644 jobs are based in Lafayette Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lafayette Township, 2014 → 2024: 4,804 → 7,644. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lafayette Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Lafayette Township: where workers come from
Where Lafayette Township clocks in
4% 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.
About 19 minutes each way for Lafayette Township’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lafayette Township workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,958 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.
Miles to work from Lafayette Township
About 15% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Lafayette Township commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lafayette Township is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns, #567 of 593 in Indiana. Both inputs place Lafayette Township 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 2,185 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). 0.6% of Lafayette Township households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lafayette Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lafayette Township next to U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000: 200th of 4,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Milan Township IN | 4,066 | $120K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 134 | Georgetown IN | 3,855 | $113K | 2.1% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 198 | Lake Bluff IL | 5,563 | $204K | 1.5% | 4.4% | 8% | A+ |
| 199 | Thiensville WI | 3,267 | $96K | 5.6% | 0.6% | 4% | A+ |
| 200 | Lafayette Township IN | 4,451 | $119K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 201 | Township 2 NE | 3,213 | $116K | 4.0% | 1.5% | 6% | A+ |
| 202 | West Bend WI | 4,401 | $120K | 3.1% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Lafayette Township, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Lafayette Township and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Aboite Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lafayette Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette Township | – | A+ | D− | 19 min | $119,038 |
| Aboite Township | 4% | A | B− | 23 min | $108,350 |
| Pleasant Township | 1% | B+ | D | 23 min | $75,678 |
| Jackson Township | under 1% | A− | B− | 25 min | $77,379 |
| Union Township | under 1% | A− | D | 40 min | $86,116 |
| Wayne Township | under 1% | C− | A | 21 min | $49,084 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lafayette Township’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 2024, 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 Lafayette Township: questions
What is the median household income in Lafayette Township?
$119,038 (±$11,911) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lafayette Township?
3.8%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lafayette Township?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lafayette Township work?
11% work in town.
Is Lafayette Township walkable?
Lafayette Township is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 3.2 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lafayette Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lafayette Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lafayette Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.