Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Universal has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
The trip to work takes 15 minutes on average (Indiana 24, U.S. 26). Universal has 20 jobs, and 101 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any work in Universal; the top destination outside it is Terre Haute (29%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Universal: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 101 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 20 people come in from elsewhere.
About 200 people are in Universal on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
Where Universal goes to work
Where Universal clocks in
29% 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.
Most jobs in Universal are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Universal, 2013 → 2023: 32 → 20. 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 Universal’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Universal takes about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Universal workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 56 commuters (the 10% 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.
Miles to work from Universal
About 33% 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.
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 Universal: questions
What is the median household income in Universal?
$53,750 (±$14,696) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Universal?
17.3%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Universal?
15 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Universal work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Terre Haute (29%, 12 mi), Clinton Township (12%, 2 mi), Indianapolis (9%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Universal 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 Universal, from the people who make the trip.
More of Universal
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.