Miami County Courthouse · Public domainPeru has lower household incomes than 92% of U.S. towns
About one in four stay in Peru for work; outside it, Kokomo is the main destination (9%, 20 miles). Below the poverty line: 23.6% of residents; Indiana has 12.3%. Jobs and income earn Peru D; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The four measures behind Peru’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Peru is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #584 of 593 in Indiana. Job access by car holds Peru’s grade up (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (9.1%, U.S. 5.2%).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Peru stays D.
The workday shuffle in and out of Peru
On a workday 3,514 residents head out to work, 1,153 work right here, and 2,638 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 (0.81 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 Peru’s residents
Where Peru clocks in
5% 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.
What work there is in Peru: 3,791 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Peru, 2013 → 2023: 4,763 → 3,791. 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 Peru’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Peru 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 Peru workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,188 commuters (the 5% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Peru
About 20% 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.
Driving is how Peru gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Peru is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #205 of 593 in Indiana. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 4,405 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 Peru households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Peru’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Peru compares with U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | McCordsville IN | 13,094 | $111K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Miller Township IN | 10,161 | $113K | 3.0% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 175 | Huntertown IN | 11,600 | $109K | 3.2% | 1.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,407 | Raymondville TX | 10,082 | $51K | 31.0% | 9.1% | 13% | D |
| 2,408 | Price UT | 8,368 | $53K | 17.7% | 7.4% | 33% | D |
| 2,409 | Peru IN | 10,962 | $46K | 23.6% | 9.1% | 25% | D |
| 2,410 | Cushing OK | 8,390 | $44K | 22.0% | 5.6% | 24% | D |
| 2,411 | Okmulgee OK | 11,394 | $42K | 20.6% | 8.2% | 24% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Peru, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
How Peru compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Peru Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Peru workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peru | – | D | B | 22 min | $46,159 |
| Peru Township | 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Washington Township | 3% | C− | D | 25 min | $48,723 |
| Pipe Creek Township | under 2% | C | C+ | 24 min | $61,313 |
Same-state neighbors only. Peru Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Peru’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 Peru: questions
What is the median household income in Peru?
$46,159 (±$3,848) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Peru?
23.6%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Peru?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Peru work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kokomo (9%, 20 mi), Logansport (5%, 15 mi), Wabash (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Peru walkable?
Peru is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Peru without a car?
<1% 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 Peru, from the people who make the trip.
More of Peru
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.