Photo: Huwmanbeing (original), Yassie (jpeg conversion) · Public domainHouseholds in Terre Haute earn less than those in 94% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 5.7 in Indianapolis. 24.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.3% across Indiana. The two grades for Terre Haute are D for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Terre Haute apart on work
Terre Haute’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Terre Haute is Indianapolis, 69 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (1,627) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Terre Haute are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Indiana worker. 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.
What’s behind Terre Haute’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Terre Haute is better than 13% of U.S. towns, #571 of 593 in Indiana. Job access by car holds Terre Haute’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($43,126, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Terre Haute could be anywhere from D to C−.
How many miles Terre Haute commutes
About 27% 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.
The daily trip from Terre Haute: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Terre Haute workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 22,294 commuters (the 6% 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 a workday changes Terre Haute
On a workday 11,083 residents head out to work, 9,477 work right here, and 21,054 people come in from elsewhere.
About 69,000 people are in Terre Haute on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 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.
8% of working residents work in Indianapolis
Where Terre Haute clocks in
8% 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 the 30,531 jobs in Terre Haute are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Terre Haute, 2013 → 2023: 35,644 → 30,531. 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 Terre Haute’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Terre Haute
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 23,647 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 83% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 28% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 10.7% of Terre Haute households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Terre Haute’s commuters take a bus or train.
Terre Haute and other U.S. towns of 41,000 to 79,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Fall Creek Township IN | 75,188 | $146K | 3.2% | 2.4% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Westfield IN | 66,258 | $123K | 3.6% | 2.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Westfield Washington Township IN | 70,020 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 731 | Mansfield OH | 47,381 | $45K | 23.5% | 7.3% | 33% | D |
| 732 | Huntington WV | 44,815 | $45K | 25.7% | 6.8% | 45% | D |
| 733 | Terre Haute IN | 58,764 | $43K | 24.7% | 6.9% | 46% | D |
| 734 | Port Arthur TX | 55,804 | $46K | 29.0% | 8.4% | 25% | D |
| 735 | Los Banos CA | 49,614 | $68K | 17.4% | 8.9% | 21% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 749 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Terre Haute, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Next door to Terre Haute
The biggest share goes to Honey Creek Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Terre Haute workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terre Haute | – | D | A | 19 min | $43,126 |
| Sugar Creek Township | under 1% | C− | B+ | 21 min | $55,625 |
| Harrison Township | under 1% | D | A+ | 19 min | $41,155 |
| North Terre Haute | under 1% | C+ | C− | 20 min | $54,640 |
| Honey Creek Township | 5% | C+ | C | 18 min | $65,458 |
| Lost Creek Township | under 1% | B | B | 19 min | $67,471 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Terre Haute’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 Terre Haute: questions
What is the median household income in Terre Haute?
$43,126 (±$2,119) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Terre Haute?
24.7%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Terre Haute?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Terre Haute work?
46% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (8%, 69 mi), Honey Creek Township (5%, 5 mi), Van Buren Township (2%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Terre Haute walkable?
Terre Haute is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Terre Haute without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 28% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Terre Haute, from the people who make the trip.
More of Terre Haute
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.