Photo: Dennisyerger84 · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Lowell commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
There are 2,207 jobs in Lowell, against 5,041 working residents. The two grades for Lowell are B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. About one in ten work in Lowell; the top destination outside it is Chicago (9%, 40 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lowell and work: the main findings
Lowell’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lowell is Chicago, IL, 40 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (450) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Lowell workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 24 across Indiana. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Lowell
63% of Lowell residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 45% of the jobs based in Lowell pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 91% 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.
The figures behind Lowell’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lowell is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #192 of 593 in Indiana. The poverty rate holds Lowell’s grade up (5.5%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (4.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lowell could be anywhere from B− to A.
Miles to work from Lowell
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Each way, about 33 minutes from Lowell
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lowell workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,284 commuters (the 9% 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.
What Lowell’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lowell, 2013 → 2023: 2,183 → 2,207. 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 Lowell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lowell on a workday afternoon
On a workday 4,594 residents head out to work, 447 work right here, and 1,760 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,000 people are in Lowell on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
The towns that employ Lowell’s residents
Where Lowell clocks in
9% of workers
9% of workers
5% 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 Lowell, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lowell is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #270 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 4,714 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). 2.5% of Lowell households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lowell’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Lowell is 1,234th of 2,695 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Whitestown IN | 15,767 | $124K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 114 | McCordsville IN | 13,094 | $111K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 125 | Brown Township IN | 15,523 | $140K | 2.3% | 2.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,232 | Saline MI | 9,001 | $88K | 5.8% | 6.3% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,233 | Carver MA | 11,981 | $91K | 7.5% | 4.4% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,234 | Lowell IN | 11,853 | $84K | 5.5% | 4.9% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,235 | Salisbury MA | 9,530 | $93K | 5.0% | 6.9% | 10% | B+ |
| 1,236 | Swansea IL | 14,356 | $92K | 8.7% | 5.7% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Lowell, 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 Lowell: questions
What is the median household income in Lowell?
$84,024 (±$2,767) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lowell?
5.5%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lowell?
33 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lowell work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chicago (9%, 40 mi), Crown Point (9%, 9 mi), Merrillville (5%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lowell walkable?
Lowell is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lowell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lowell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lowell
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.