Photo: Nheyob · CC BY-SA 4.0Wanatah at work: jobs, income and the commute
Working residents average 28 minutes each way, where Indiana has 24 and the U.S. 26. Only 5% work in Wanatah; the top destination outside it is Valparaiso (14%, 9 miles). 510 jobs are based in Wanatah; 406 of its residents have a job.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Wanatah
67% of the jobs in Wanatah pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wanatah, 2013 → 2023: 352 → 510. 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 Wanatah’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Wanatah, and who commutes in
On a workday 387 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 491 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Wanatah on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.26 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.
Out of Wanatah to work: where people go
Where Wanatah clocks in
14% of workers
9% of workers
4% 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.
Wanatah’s commute takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wanatah workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 583 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 Wanatah
About 20% 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 Wanatah: questions
What is the median household income in Wanatah?
$68,409 (±$28,119) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wanatah?
5.9%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wanatah?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wanatah work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Valparaiso (14%, 9 mi), La Porte (9%, 16 mi), Gary (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wanatah without a car?
1% 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 Wanatah, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wanatah
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.