Photo: Nyttend · Public domainUnemployment in Lancaster Township (1.7%) is lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 20 minutes, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. For jobs and income Lancaster Township is better than 67% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (C+). About one in seven work in Lancaster Township itself; outside it, Bluffton draws the most (31%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Lancaster Township, in brief
Why Lancaster Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Unemployment holds Lancaster Township’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 48% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lancaster Township could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Where people from Lancaster Township work
Where Lancaster Township clocks in
31% 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.
In and out of Lancaster Township on a workday
On a workday 2,155 residents head out to work, 418 work right here, and 2,778 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Lancaster Township on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 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.
29% of the jobs in Lancaster Township make or build things
3,196 jobs are based in Lancaster Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lancaster Township, 2013 → 2023: 2,408 → 3,196. 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 Lancaster Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Lancaster Township, about 20 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lancaster Township workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,918 commuters (the 8% 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.
The distance from Lancaster Township to work
About 17% 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 Lancaster Township commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,189 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). 4.4% of Lancaster Township households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lancaster Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lancaster Township next to U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,400: 1,255th of 3,297 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Worth Township IN | 6,688 | $123K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 160 | New Whiteland IN | 5,937 | $90K | 3.3% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,253 | West View PA | 6,355 | $84K | 8.8% | 5.1% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,254 | Xenia Township OH | 7,320 | $95K | 4.8% | 6.8% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,255 | Lancaster Township IN | 6,234 | $77K | 8.7% | 1.7% | 16% | B+ |
| 1,256 | Porter NY | 6,448 | $78K | 7.0% | 2.9% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,257 | Beaver Township OH | 6,601 | $97K | 8.3% | 4.7% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,297 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Lancaster Township, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Next door to Lancaster Township
The biggest share goes to Harrison Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lancaster Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster Township | – | B+ | C+ | 20 min | $76,563 |
| Harrison Township | 2% | B− | B+ | 20 min | $61,689 |
| Rockcreek Township | under 2% | B− | C | 25 min | $86,339 |
| Kirkland Township | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Jefferson Township | 1% | B+ | C− | 29 min | $73,736 |
| Preble Township | under 2% | B+ | B− | 21 min | $78,125 |
Same-state neighbors only. Kirkland Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lancaster 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 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 Lancaster Township: questions
What is the median household income in Lancaster Township?
$76,563 (±$10,919) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lancaster Township?
8.7%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lancaster Township?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lancaster Township work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bluffton (31%, 3 mi), Fort Wayne (17%, 21 mi), Indianapolis (3%, 87 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lancaster Township walkable?
Lancaster Township is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lancaster Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lancaster Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lancaster Township
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.