Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMost of Westport commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Jobs and income earn Westport D; getting around on foot earns it B−. Westport has 159 jobs, against 637 working residents. Household incomes here are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Westport at work: what stands out
Westport is a place people come home to
There are 159 jobs based in Westport, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Westport has about 930 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Westport workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 11% across Indiana. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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 637 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Westport’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Westport is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Westport’s grade up (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (22.7%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (10.4%) is left out: Westport’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, Westport could be anywhere from D− to C−.
In and out of Westport on a workday
On a workday 616 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 138 people come in from elsewhere.
About 930 people are in Westport on a workday afternoon, 34% 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.
Commuting from Westport: about 28 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Westport workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 730 commuters (the 2% 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.
17% of working residents work in Columbus
Where Westport clocks in
17% of workers
10% 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.
Goods, not services: 58% of the jobs in Westport
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Westport, 2014 → 2024: 92 → 159. 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 Westport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Westport goes to work
About 25% 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.
Westport is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Westport is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Indiana, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 747 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). 6.9% of Westport households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Westport’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Westport is 5,025th among 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Meridian Hills IN | 1,800 | $212K | 0.8% | 3.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | Galena IN | 1,549 | $128K | 1.8% | 4.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 114 | Ogden Dunes IN | 1,163 | $117K | 3.9% | 2.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,023 | Sheridan Township MI | 1,384 | $50K | 13.5% | 2.0% | 3% | D |
| 5,024 | Kensett AR | 1,425 | $31K | 28.0% | 5.3% | 1% | D |
| 5,025 | Westport IN | 1,406 | $49K | 22.7% | 10.4% | 3% | D |
| 5,026 | Laurium MI | 1,891 | $54K | 16.0% | 3.6% | 9% | D |
| 5,027 | Tawas City MI | 1,830 | $46K | 12.7% | 6.2% | 20% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Westport, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
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 Westport: questions
What is the median household income in Westport?
$49,129 (±$7,462) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Westport?
22.7%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Westport?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Westport work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbus (17%, 19 mi), Greensburg (16%, 13 mi), Indianapolis (10%, 52 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Westport walkable?
Westport is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Westport without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Westport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Westport
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.