Photo: Quentin Melson · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Orleans have lower incomes than those in 65% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Orleans; the top destination outside it is Paoli (8%, 7 miles). 13.9% of residents are in poverty, against 12.3% across Indiana. Jobs and income earn Orleans C; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Orleans
Orleans makes and builds things
55% of the jobs based in Orleans are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Orleans residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 33%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Orleans than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Orleans fell from 1,206 in 2013 to 782 in 2023, −35%. 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 891 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Orleans: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orleans is better than 30% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Orleans’ grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orleans could be anywhere from D to B.
Goods, not services: 55% of the jobs in Orleans
782 jobs are based in Orleans.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orleans, 2013 → 2023: 1,206 → 782. 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 Orleans’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Orleans: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 806 residents head out to work, 85 work right here, and 697 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 (0.88 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.
Where Orleans goes to work
Where Orleans clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
Getting to work from Orleans takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orleans workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,070 commuters (the 7% 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.
Orleans’ commute, mile by mile
About 21% 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.
Getting around Orleans: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orleans is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 1,156 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). 5.9% of Orleans households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Orleans’ commuters take a bus or train.
3,212th of 5,148: where Orleans ranks among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Meridian Hills IN | 1,800 | $212K | 0.8% | 3.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Galena IN | 1,549 | $128K | 1.8% | 4.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 156 | Foxcliff Estates IN | 1,674 | $142K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,210 | Orange Township OH | 2,580 | $91K | 19.7% | 4.9% | <1% | C |
| 3,211 | Ludlow VT | 2,134 | $55K | 5.6% | 6.8% | 44% | C |
| 3,212 | Orleans IN | 2,073 | $65K | 13.9% | 3.6% | 10% | C |
| 3,213 | Palmyra ME | 2,077 | $61K | 9.1% | 1.5% | 1% | C |
| 3,214 | Clarence Township MI | 1,897 | $67K | 12.9% | 2.9% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Orleans, 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 Orleans: questions
What is the median household income in Orleans?
$65,330 (±$11,444) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orleans?
13.9%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orleans?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orleans work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Paoli (8%, 7 mi), Bedford (7%, 14 mi), French Lick (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Orleans walkable?
Orleans is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orleans without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orleans, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orleans
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.