Photo: Nyttend · Public domainAt 1.2%, unemployment in Prairie Township is lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 29 minutes, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. The two grades for Prairie Township are B+ for jobs and income and D for walkability. Only 4% stay in Prairie Township for work; outside it, New Castle is the main destination (12%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Prairie Township: the gist
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Prairie Township
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Prairie Township is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #167 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Prairie Township’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($68,088, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Prairie Township could be anywhere from B− to A.
Each way, about 29 minutes from Prairie Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Prairie Township workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,207 commuters (the 17% 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.
Prairie Township on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,658 residents head out to work, 73 work right here, and 654 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Prairie Township on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.42 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.
Commuting out of Prairie Township: the destinations
Where Prairie Township clocks in
12% of workers
11% of workers
9% 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.
68% of the jobs in Prairie Township pay over $3,333 a month
727 jobs are based in Prairie Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Prairie Township, 2013 → 2023: 275 → 727. 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 Prairie Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Prairie Township commutes less than 22 miles
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.
Most trips from Prairie Township start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Prairie Township is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns, #539 of 593 in Indiana. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 0.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Indiana, on an EPA index of 4.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,448 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). 1.2% 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.
Prairie Township next to U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100: 1,101st of 3,394 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Worth Township IN | 6,688 | $123K | 4.1% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | New Whiteland IN | 5,937 | $90K | 3.3% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,099 | Cave Creek AZ | 5,160 | $107K | 7.2% | 2.7% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,100 | St. Joseph Township IL | 5,436 | $116K | 5.5% | 5.2% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,101 | Prairie Township IN | 6,020 | $68K | 5.4% | 1.2% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,102 | Vernon Township PA | 5,223 | $76K | 4.1% | 2.5% | 18% | B+ |
| 1,103 | Shady Side MD | 4,727 | $154K | 3.8% | 4.4% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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.
Prairie Township and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Henry Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Prairie Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Township | – | B+ | D | 29 min | $68,088 |
| Jefferson Township | under 2% | B− | C | 24 min | $56,141 |
| Henry Township | 5% | C | B+ | 21 min | $58,355 |
| Stoney Creek Township | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Blue River Township | under 2% | C+ | D | 23 min | $85,536 |
| Monroe Township | under 2% | B+ | C− | 24 min | $92,083 |
Same-state neighbors only. Stoney Creek Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. 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.
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 Prairie Township: questions
What is the median household income in Prairie Township?
$68,088 (±$22,473) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Prairie Township?
5.4%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Prairie Township?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Prairie Township work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Castle (12%, 6 mi), Indianapolis (11%, 45 mi), Muncie (9%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Prairie Township walkable?
Prairie Township is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Prairie Township without a car?
0% 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 Prairie Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Prairie 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.