Jobs and the daily commute in Perry Township
1% of workers work from home, where Indiana as a whole has 11%. The two grades for Perry Township are B for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in seven work in Perry Township itself; outside it, Ligonier draws the most (14%, 1 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Perry Township stands out on work
Perry Township makes and builds things
62% of the jobs based in Perry Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Perry Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 59%. The jobs ↓
A young workforce
32% of Perry Township’s working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Few Perry Township workers work from home
Only 1% 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.
Jobs & income in Perry Township: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Perry Township is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #235 of 593 in Indiana. The poverty rate holds Perry Township’s grade up (6.0%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($72,575, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Perry Township could be anywhere from C to A.
62% of the jobs in Perry Township make or build things
1,912 jobs are based in Perry Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Perry Township, 2013 → 2023: 2,426 → 1,912. 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 Perry Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Perry Township’s commute takes 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 Perry Township workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,865 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Perry Township
On a workday 2,517 residents head out to work, 442 work right here, and 1,470 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,000 people are in Perry Township on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.65 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 Perry Township goes to work
Where Perry Township clocks in
14% of workers
13% of workers
6% 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 far it is to work from Perry Township
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.
In Perry Township, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Perry Township is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #185 of 593 in Indiana. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Indiana, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,886 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). 27.6% of Perry Township households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Perry Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,506th of 3,227: where Perry Township ranks among U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Worth Township IN | 6,688 | $123K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 122 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 173 | New Whiteland IN | 5,937 | $90K | 3.3% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,504 | Clayton NJ | 9,041 | $90K | 8.0% | 7.2% | 4% | B |
| 1,505 | South Gate Ridge FL | 5,310 | $70K | 7.5% | 4.7% | 2% | B |
| 1,506 | Perry Township IN | 7,046 | $73K | 6.0% | 3.9% | 15% | B |
| 1,507 | Muskingum Township OH | 4,911 | $84K | 13.5% | 1.4% | 2% | B |
| 1,508 | Carrollton VA | 8,436 | $111K | 6.8% | 9.7% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,227 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Perry Township, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
How Perry Township compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Sparta Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Perry Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perry Township | – | B | B | 24 min | $72,575 |
| Elkhart Township | under 3% | B | B− | 24 min | $78,672 |
| Sparta Township | 3% | B | C | 34 min | $81,935 |
| Benton Township | under 3% | B | B− | 19 min | $94,070 |
| Eden Township | under 3% | B+ | B− | 17 min | $91,067 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Perry Township’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 Perry Township: questions
What is the median household income in Perry Township?
$72,575 (±$12,084) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Perry Township?
6.0%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Perry Township?
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 Perry Township work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ligonier (14%, 1 mi), Goshen (13%, 14 mi), Elkhart (6%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Perry Township walkable?
Perry Township is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Perry Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 28% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Perry Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Perry Township
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.