John E. and Catherine E. Christian House (Samara) · Photo: Tim Musson · CC BY-SA 2.0College students make up 63% of West Lafayette’s residents
Measured by family income, West Lafayette is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income West Lafayette is better than 75% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is among the most walkable U.S. towns (A+). About one in three work in West Lafayette; the top destination outside it is Lafayette (19%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in West Lafayette
West Lafayette is where the jobs are
West Lafayette has 25,041 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
West Lafayette and Lafayette trade workers both ways
Lafayette is the top workplace for West Lafayette residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in West Lafayette come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from West Lafayette are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Indiana worker. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in West Lafayette is services
90% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for West Lafayette
Family income is its strongest input ($124,375, U.S. $99,999); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (9.6%, U.S. 11.9%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (47% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 9.6%, against 37.3% for all residents. Unemployment (4.5%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($124,375), since student households pull the household median down ($34,891).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, West Lafayette could be anywhere from B− to A+.
The daily flow of workers through West Lafayette
On a workday 7,026 residents head out to work, 3,674 work right here, and 21,367 people come in from elsewhere.
About 60,000 people are in West Lafayette on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting in to West Lafayette: where workers come from
Where West Lafayette clocks in
12% of workers
2% 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.
A commute of about 16 minutes in West Lafayette
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Lafayette workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,606 commuters (the 15% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in West Lafayette
25,041 jobs are based in West Lafayette.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Lafayette, 2014 → 2024: 22,181 → 25,041. 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 West Lafayette’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region West Lafayette works
About 36% 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.
West Lafayette is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West Lafayette is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #3 of 593 in Indiana. Both inputs place West Lafayette 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 18,382 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 92% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 70% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 29.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 18.3% of West Lafayette households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of West Lafayette’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, West Lafayette is 389th among 969 U.S. towns of 32,000 to 62,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Zionsville IN | 33,624 | $172K | 3.1% | 2.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Perry Township IN | 39,325 | $112K | 3.4% | 1.3% | 17% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Brownsburg IN | 34,089 | $102K | 7.5% | 1.6% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 387 | Bedford TX | 47,958 | $84K | 7.3% | 4.8% | 7% | B+ |
| 388 | Bella Vista AR | 34,518 | $88K | 3.6% | 4.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 389 | West Lafayette IN | 45,747 | $35K | 37.3% | 4.5% | 34% | B+ |
| 390 | Guilford Township IN | 37,203 | $88K | 7.4% | 4.1% | 16% | B+ |
| 391 | Santa Cruz CA | 61,797 | $115K | 17.0% | 7.2% | 29% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 969 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 West Lafayette, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
How West Lafayette compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Wabash Township (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | West Lafayette workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Lafayette | – | B+ | A+ | 16 min | $34,891 |
| Wabash Township | 1% | B+ | A+ | 16 min | $41,054 |
| Tippecanoe Township | under 1% | A− | D | 23 min | $109,652 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of West Lafayette’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.
- Students. 63% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in West Lafayette: questions
What is the median household income in West Lafayette?
$34,891 (±$4,238) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Lafayette?
37.3% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 9.6%. Indiana: 12.3%.
How long is the commute from West Lafayette?
16 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Lafayette work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lafayette (19%, 4 mi), Indianapolis (12%, 62 mi), Carmel (2%, 53 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is West Lafayette walkable?
West Lafayette is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 36% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Lafayette without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. 70% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Lafayette, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Lafayette
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.