Spencer Public Library · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainSpencer’s household incomes are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Spencer is better than 24% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (A). Below the poverty line: 14.1% of residents, next to 12.3% for Indiana as a whole. About one in four work in Spencer; the top destination outside it is Bloomington (15%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Spencer
Spencer fills up on a workday
Spencer has 4,420 jobs, 3.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,700 people are in town, more than double the 2,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
Spencer makes and builds things
66% of the jobs based in Spencer are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Spencer residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
Spencer and Bloomington trade workers both ways
Bloomington is the top workplace for Spencer residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Spencer come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Spencer are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Indiana worker. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Spencer’s workers comes from Bloomington
440 of the people who work in Spencer live in Bloomington, 16 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
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.
The four measures behind Spencer’s grade
Unemployment holds Spencer’s grade up (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($48,378, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Spencer could be anywhere from D to B−.
Who leaves Spencer for work, and who comes in
On a workday 880 residents head out to work, 271 work right here, and 4,149 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,700 people are in Spencer on a workday afternoon, 132% more than live here.
3.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
In Spencer, 66% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
4,420 jobs are based in Spencer.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spencer, 2013 → 2023: 4,639 → 4,420. 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 Spencer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Spencer live
Where Spencer clocks in
15% of workers
12% 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.
Spencer’s commute takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spencer workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,008 commuters (the 7% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Spencer
About 15% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Spencer
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,085 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). 7.5% of Spencer households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Spencer’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Spencer is 3,741st of 5,207 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Meridian Hills IN | 1,800 | $212K | 0.8% | 3.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Clark Township IN | 3,026 | $138K | 5.2% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 183 | Swan Township IN | 2,327 | $112K | 0.7% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,739 | Dansville NY | 1,816 | $69K | 11.4% | 3.5% | 4% | C− |
| 3,740 | Mecca Township OH | 2,315 | $54K | 12.7% | 3.9% | 2% | C− |
| 3,741 | Spencer IN | 2,479 | $48K | 14.1% | 4.3% | 24% | C− |
| 3,742 | Village of Four Seasons MO | 2,473 | $90K | 10.9% | 9.3% | 7% | C− |
| 3,743 | Richwood OH | 2,640 | $64K | 13.1% | 8.0% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Spencer, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
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 Spencer: questions
What is the median household income in Spencer?
$48,378 (±$6,582) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spencer?
14.1%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spencer?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spencer work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bloomington (15%, 16 mi), Indianapolis (12%, 48 mi), Richland Township (9%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Spencer walkable?
Spencer is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spencer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spencer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spencer
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.