Photo: Emmmmh · CC BY-SA 4.0Muncie’s family incomes are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
Without college students, the poverty rate is 22.3%, against 11.5% across Indiana. For jobs and income Muncie is better than 20% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (A). About two in five work in Muncie itself; outside it, Indianapolis draws the most (11%, 49 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Muncie
Muncie’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Muncie is Indianapolis, 49 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (2,502) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Muncie are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 46 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.
Income, poverty and work: Muncie’s grade explained
Job access by car holds Muncie’s grade up (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns); family income pulls it down ($60,880, U.S. $99,999).
22% of Muncie’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (16% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 22.3%, against 29.2% for all residents. Unemployment (7.8%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($60,880), since student households pull the household median down ($44,471).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Muncie stays C−.
Miles to work from Muncie
About 22% 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.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Indiana
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Muncie workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 27,067 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 workday shuffle in and out of Muncie
On a workday 13,976 residents head out to work, 8,795 work right here, and 21,319 people come in from elsewhere.
About 73,000 people are in Muncie on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 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.
The towns that employ Muncie’s residents
Where Muncie clocks in
11% of workers
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.
The 30,114 jobs based in Muncie
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Muncie, 2013 → 2023: 31,474 → 30,114. 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 Muncie’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Muncie is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 29,342 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). 10.6% of Muncie households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Muncie’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Muncie compares with U.S. towns of 46,000 to 88,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Westfield IN | 66,258 | $123K | 3.6% | 2.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Westfield Washington Township IN | 70,020 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 627 | Jonesboro AR | 83,296 | $55K | 22.8% | 6.3% | 64% | C− |
| 628 | Center Township IN | 64,861 | $44K | 29.0% | 7.7% | 41% | C− |
| 629 | Muncie IN | 65,466 | $44K | 29.2% | 7.8% | 39% | C− |
| 630 | Pontiac MI | 62,077 | $44K | 24.4% | 10.1% | 12% | C− |
| 631 | Madera CA | 69,017 | $64K | 25.6% | 12.6% | 27% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 661 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Muncie, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
How Muncie compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Center Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Muncie workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muncie | – | C− | A | 18 min | $44,471 |
| Yorktown | 3% | A− | C | 21 min | $81,674 |
| Center Township | 4% | C− | A | 19 min | $44,165 |
| Monroe Township | 1% | B+ | C− | 24 min | $92,083 |
| Hamilton Township | under 2% | B+ | D− | 21 min | $74,274 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Muncie’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.
- Students. 22% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Muncie: questions
What is the median household income in Muncie?
$44,471 (±$2,232) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Muncie?
29.2% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 22.3%. Indiana: 12.3%.
How long is the commute from Muncie?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Muncie work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (11%, 49 mi), Anderson (4%, 17 mi), Center Township (4%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Muncie walkable?
Muncie is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Muncie without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Muncie, from the people who make the trip.
More of Muncie
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.