With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Tri-Lakes works elsewhere
The two grades for Tri-Lakes are A for jobs and income and D for walkability. 152 jobs are based in Tri-Lakes; 580 of its residents have a job. Household incomes here are higher than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Tri-Lakes
Tri-Lakes is a place people come home to
There are 152 jobs based in Tri-Lakes, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Tri-Lakes has about 600 people in it, 42% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
28% of Tri-Lakes works in Fort Wayne
162 working residents, 28%, have their main job in Fort Wayne, 20 miles away. That’s 14 times as many as work in Tri-Lakes itself. The commute map ↓
Tri-Lakes workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Indiana. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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; with 580 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Tri-Lakes: the grade in detail
Household income is its strongest input ($115,250, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Tri-Lakes’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Tri-Lakes could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Who commutes out of Tri-Lakes, and who commutes in
On a workday 569 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 141 people come in from elsewhere.
About 600 people are in Tri-Lakes on a workday afternoon, 42% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
28% of working residents work in Fort Wayne
Where Tri-Lakes clocks in
11% of workers
7% 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.
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Indiana
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tri-Lakes workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 501 commuters (the 16% 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.
What Tri-Lakes’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tri-Lakes, 2013 → 2023: 188 → 152. 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 Tri-Lakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Tri-Lakes
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 Tri-Lakes start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tri-Lakes is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Tri-Lakes near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 600 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). 0.0% of Tri-Lakes households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Tri-Lakes’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Tri-Lakes is 166th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Ogden Dunes IN | 1,163 | $117K | 3.9% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 84 | Campbell Township IN | 1,172 | $122K | 0.0% | 7.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Long Beach IN | 1,158 | $122K | 3.8% | 2.6% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 164 | Califon NJ | 1,034 | $128K | 7.5% | 3.6% | <1% | A |
| 165 | Durham Township PA | 1,086 | $116K | 6.9% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| 166 | Tri-Lakes IN | 1,025 | $115K | 4.7% | 0.0% | 2% | A |
| 167 | Rice Tracts TX | 1,384 | $133K | 5.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| 168 | Concord Township OH | 1,396 | $117K | 1.8% | 2.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Tri-Lakes, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
Next door to Tri-Lakes
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tri-Lakes workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tri-Lakes | – | A | D | 29 min | $115,250 |
| Noble Township | under 2% | B+ | C | 35 min | $73,487 |
| Smith Township | under 2% | B+ | C− | 26 min | $81,761 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Tri-Lakes’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 Tri-Lakes: questions
What is the median household income in Tri-Lakes?
$115,250 (±$44,086) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tri-Lakes?
4.7%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tri-Lakes?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tri-Lakes work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Wayne (28%, 20 mi), Columbia City (11%, 6 mi), Warsaw (7%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tri-Lakes walkable?
Tri-Lakes is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tri-Lakes without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tri-Lakes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tri-Lakes
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.