Most of Van Buren Township commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
For jobs and income Van Buren Township is better than 23% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (C−). Employers in Van Buren Township report 186 jobs, against 646 working residents. Measured by household income, Van Buren Township is behind 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Van Buren Township
Van Buren Township’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Van Buren Township is Indianapolis, 48 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (137) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Van Buren Township is a place people come home to
There are 186 jobs based in Van Buren Township, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Van Buren Township has about 1,400 people in it, 25% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 646 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Van Buren Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Job access by car holds Van Buren Township’s grade up (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($56,250, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (1.8%) is left out: Van Buren Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Van Buren Township could be anywhere from D to B−.
Short hops and long hauls from Van Buren Township
About 18% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How a workday changes Van Buren Township
On a workday 622 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 162 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Van Buren Township on a workday afternoon, 25% 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 2024, primary jobs.
21% of working residents work in Indianapolis
Where Van Buren Township clocks in
21% of workers
9% of workers
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.
The kinds of work in Van Buren Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Van Buren Township, 2014 → 2024: 177 → 186. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Van Buren Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 25 minutes in Van Buren Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Van Buren Township workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 676 commuters (the 11% 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.
Van Buren Township is a driving town
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 762 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). 6.5% of Van Buren Township households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Van Buren Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Van Buren Township ranks: 3,887th of 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Meridian Hills IN | 1,800 | $212K | 0.8% | 3.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Galena IN | 1,549 | $128K | 1.8% | 4.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | Foxcliff Estates IN | 1,674 | $142K | 2.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,885 | Midway South TX | 2,308 | $54K | 24.5% | 6.5% | <1% | C− |
| 3,886 | Erath LA | 1,932 | $48K | 17.5% | 4.2% | 5% | C− |
| 3,887 | Van Buren Township IN | 1,819 | $56K | 14.7% | 1.8% | 4% | C− |
| 3,888 | Hamilton Township IN | 1,594 | $59K | 12.3% | 4.0% | 5% | C− |
| 3,889 | Moscow Township MI | 1,380 | $59K | 12.3% | 3.0% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Van Buren Township, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
How Van Buren Township compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Boone Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Van Buren Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van Buren Township | – | C− | C− | 25 min | $56,250 |
| Washington Township | under 3% | C+ | C+ | 28 min | $74,595 |
| Boone Township | 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Monroe Township | under 3% | C+ | C | 30 min | $67,409 |
| Fairmount Township | under 3% | C | B | 25 min | $66,078 |
Same-state neighbors only. Boone Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Van Buren 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 2024, 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 Van Buren Township: questions
What is the median household income in Van Buren Township?
$56,250 (±$12,136) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Van Buren Township?
14.7%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Van Buren Township?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Van Buren Township work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (21%, 48 mi), Anderson (9%, 18 mi), Elwood (8%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Van Buren Township walkable?
Van Buren Township is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Van Buren Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Van Buren Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Van Buren Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.