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Hall Farm at ClunettePhoto: Nyttend · Public domain
Jobs & commute in Prairie Township

Prairie Township has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each

Jobs and income earn Prairie Township B+; getting around on foot earns it D. Prairie Township has 356 jobs, and 789 of its residents work somewhere. Only 2% work in Prairie Township itself; outside it, Warsaw draws the most (26%, 6 miles).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

What stands out · In brief

Prairie Township and work: the main findings

Prairie Township and Warsaw trade workers both ways

Warsaw is the top workplace for Prairie Township residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Prairie Township come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓

Prairie Township makes and builds things

49% of the jobs based in Prairie Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Prairie Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 49%. The jobs ↓

Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 789 working residents, small shifts move the shares.

Jobs & income grade

Why Prairie Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does

On income, poverty and job access, Prairie Township is better than 70% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Prairie Township’s grade up (4.7%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.

Household income $84,333 (±$8,227) · IN $71,957 · U.S. $80,734Higher than 61% of U.S. towns
Poverty 4.7% · IN 12.3% · U.S. 12.5%Lower than 82% of U.S. towns
Job access by car EPA, jobs within a 45-minute driveMore than 47% of U.S. towns

Unemployment (3.0%) is left out: Prairie Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.

B−A−

A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Prairie Township could be anywhere from B− to A−.

How TownRatings grades jobs & income →

★ What stands out · The commute map

Where Prairie Township goes to work

Wakarusa: 16 residents work here (2%)Winona LakeNappanee: 58 residents work here (7%)PlymouthWarsaw: 202 residents work here (26%)Goshen: 28 residents work here (4%)Elkhart: 37 residents work here (5%)Fort Wayne: 28 residents work here (4%)Van Buren TownshipPlain Township: 26 residents work here (3%)Prairie TownshipScott TownshipHarrison TownshipWayne TownshipEtna Township: 17 residents work here (2%)Jefferson TownshipIndianapolis: 18 residents work here (2%)Hoffman LakeWarsawNappaneeElkhartGoshenFort WaynePlain TownshipPrairie Township
1
Warsaw6.5 mi away
26%202
2
Nappanee10.3 mi away
7%58
3
Elkhart27 mi away
5%37
4
Goshen19.9 mi away
4%28
5
Fort Wayne44.5 mi away
4%28
6
Plain Township6.1 mi away
3%26
7
Prairie Township (in town)right here
2%19
8
Indianapolis105.7 mi away
2%18
9
Etna Township4.3 mi away
2%17
10
Wakarusa16.2 mi away
2%16
Everywhere elseother towns and states
43%340
The top trips

Where Prairie Township clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

Factories, building and farms: 49% of the jobs in Prairie Township

Jobs based in Prairie TownshipJobs Prairie Township residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms49%49%
Trade, transport & utilities22%15%
Services: health, schools, offices29%36%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less7%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month39%29%
Over $3,333 a month54%59%

Who does it

29 or younger28%26%
30 to 5442%46%
55 and older29%28%
−4%

Jobs based in Prairie Township, 2014 → 2024: 371 → 356. 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 2024.

Here is what they are, next to the jobs Prairie Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Day and night

How a workday changes Prairie Township

On a workday 770 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 337 people come in from elsewhere.

770live here, work elsewhere
19live and work here
337work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,800
Workday1,300
1,800live here− 770head out to work+ 340come in to work= 1,300on a workday

About 1,300 people are in Prairie Township on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.45jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.

Time on the road

About 27 minutes to work from Prairie Township

A year of commuting
206 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Prairie Township27 min
Indiana24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
13%

of Prairie Township workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Prairie Township gets to work
72%Drive alone
28%Carpool

Share of the 720 commuters (the 13% 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.

How far

How many miles Prairie Township commutes

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miWarsaw: 26% · 6.5 miNappanee: 7% · 10.3 miElkhart: 5% · 27 miGoshen: 4% · 19.9 miFort Wayne: 4% · 44.5 miPlain Township: 3% · 6.1 miIndianapolis: 2% · 105.7 miEtna Township: 2% · 4.3 miWakarusa: 2% · 16.2 miWarsaw 26%Nappanee 7%Elkhart 5%Goshen 4%Fort Wayne 4%Prairie Township
Prairie TownshipTop destinations (size = commuters)
44%Under 10 mi351 residents
29%10–24 mi230 residents
15%25–50 mi120 residents
11%Over 50 mi88 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

Getting around · Walkability grade

Driving is how Prairie Township gets around

On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Prairie Township is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Prairie Township near the same point nationally.

EPA walkability index 4.6 of 20 · typical IN town 5.6 · U.S. 6.9Higher than 15% of U.S. towns
Walk, bike or transit 0.0% of commuters · IN 3.3% · U.S. 7.1%Higher than 7% of U.S. towns
DD

A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 828 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). 11.8% of Prairie Township households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Prairie Township’s commuters take a bus or train.

Towns its size

Prairie Township places 1,178th of 6,085 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400

#TownPeopleHousehold incomePovertyUnemploymentWork in townGrade
1Chevy Chase Village MD1,978$250K1.2%2.6%1%A+
2Plandome NY1,482$250K0.9%1.4%1%A+
3Hewlett Harbor NY1,332$250K1.9%7.2%1%A+
…
6Meridian Hills IN1,800$212K0.8%3.6%2%A+
…
117Galena IN1,549$128K1.8%4.8%1%A+
…
171Foxcliff Estates IN1,674$142K2.8%0.0%1%A+
…
1,176Marion Township PA1,962$80K6.4%3.2%1%B+
1,177Osino NV1,341$93K1.0%0.0%1%B+
1,178Prairie Township IN1,780$84K4.7%3.0%2%B+
1,179Ingham Township MI2,395$112K4.3%6.2%5%B+
1,180Osceola WI1,874$103K8.4%3.1%4%B+
…
6,085Paraje NM1,333$33K61.7%0.0%7%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 Prairie Township, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.

Next door

Prairie Township and its neighbors

The biggest share goes to Plain Township (3%).

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Scott Township15 min
Plain Township18 min
Jefferson Township20 min
Etna Township20 min
Harrison Township25 min
Prairie Township27 min

Jobs & commute next door

TownPrairie Township workers thereJobs & incomeWalkabilityCommuteHousehold income
Prairie Township–B+D27 min$84,333
Harrison Townshipunder 3%B+D25 min$74,904
Jefferson Townshipunder 3%AB−20 min$101,481
Scott Townshipunder 3%B+B−15 min$86,629
Etna Township2%C+C20 min$59,048
Plain Township3%B−C−18 min$70,511

Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.

Darker towns draw more of Prairie Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Prairie Township: questions

What is the median household income in Prairie Township?

$84,333 (±$8,227) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Prairie Township?

4.7%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Prairie Township?

27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Prairie Township work?

2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Warsaw (26%, 6 mi), Nappanee (7%, 10 mi), Elkhart (5%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).

Is Prairie Township walkable?

Prairie Township is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.

Can you get around Prairie Township without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Prairie Township, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Prairie Township

Prairie Township home →

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.