Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Patoka has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Patoka has 29 jobs, against 300 working residents. Only 1% work in Patoka; the top destination outside it is Princeton (23%, 3 miles). 2% of workers have no commute at all, where Indiana as a whole has 11%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Patoka apart on work
Patoka is a place people come home to
There are 29 jobs based in Patoka, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Patoka has about 440 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Patoka and Princeton trade workers both ways
Princeton is the top workplace for Patoka residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Patoka come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Patoka workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 11% across Indiana. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 300 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who commutes out of Patoka, and who commutes in
On a workday 297 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 26 people come in from elsewhere.
About 440 people are in Patoka on a workday afternoon, 38% 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.
Where Patoka goes to work
Where Patoka clocks in
23% of workers
15% of workers
12% 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.
How long Patoka spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Patoka workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 327 commuters (the 2% 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 kinds of work in Patoka
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Patoka, 2013 → 2023: 18 → 29. 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 Patoka’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Patoka’s workers travel
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.
Bordering towns draw 17% of Patoka’s workers
The biggest share goes to Patoka Township (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Patoka workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patoka | – | — | — | 21 min | $48,958 |
| Patoka Township | 15% | B− | B+ | 15 min | $65,014 |
| White River Township | 2% | C− | D | 22 min | $63,482 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Patoka’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 Patoka: questions
What is the median household income in Patoka?
$48,958 (±$21,173) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Patoka?
26.5%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Patoka?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Patoka work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Princeton (23%, 3 mi), Patoka Township (15%, 3 mi), Evansville (12%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Patoka without a car?
1% 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 Patoka, from the people who make the trip.
More of Patoka
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.