Photo: Internet Archive Book Images · Public domainHouseholds in Milford have lower incomes than those in 86% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Milford is better than 37% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (B+). Below the poverty line: 9.4% of residents, next to 12.3% across Indiana. Home is the office for 1% of workers; Indiana has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Milford
Milford makes and builds things
71% of the jobs based in Milford are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Milford residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 52%. The jobs ↓
Most jobs in Milford pay over $40,000 a year
76% of the jobs based in Milford pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Milford than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Milford fell from 1,274 in 2013 to 932 in 2023, −27%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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; with 788 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Milford gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Milford’s grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($51,667, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (1.7%) is left out: Milford’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Milford could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Making and building: 71% of jobs based in Milford
932 jobs are based in Milford.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Milford, 2013 → 2023: 1,274 → 932. 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 Milford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Milford on a workday
On a workday 737 residents head out to work, 51 work right here, and 881 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 (1.18 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.
10% of working residents work in Goshen
Where Milford clocks in
10% of workers
10% of workers
9% 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.
The trip to work from Milford: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Milford workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 880 commuters (the 1% 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.
How many miles Milford commutes
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.
The commute in Milford is mostly behind the wheel
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Indiana, on an EPA index of 6.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 886 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). 0.7% of Milford households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Milford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Milford next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300: 2,952nd of 5,760 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Meridian Hills IN | 1,800 | $212K | 0.8% | 3.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Galena IN | 1,549 | $128K | 1.8% | 4.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 164 | Foxcliff Estates IN | 1,674 | $142K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,950 | Warren IL | 1,275 | $76K | 9.9% | 2.7% | 11% | C+ |
| 2,951 | Thornton IL | 2,299 | $60K | 15.1% | 7.0% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,952 | Milford IN | 1,686 | $52K | 9.4% | 1.7% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,953 | Auburn KS | 1,272 | $58K | 10.9% | 4.8% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,954 | West Salem OH | 1,430 | $62K | 13.9% | 3.2% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Milford, 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 Milford: questions
What is the median household income in Milford?
$51,667 (±$22,916) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Milford?
9.4%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Milford?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Milford work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Goshen (10%, 11 mi), Elkhart (10%, 20 mi), Nappanee (9%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Milford walkable?
Milford is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Milford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Milford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Milford
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.