Photo: User:Visviva · Public domainWheeler has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers (Indiana 11%). Employers in Wheeler report 40 jobs for 176 working residents. Hardly any work in Wheeler; the top destination outside it is Valparaiso (16%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wheeler on a workday afternoon
On a workday 176 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 40 people come in from elsewhere.
About 150 people are in Wheeler on a workday afternoon, 48% 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 Wheeler goes to work
Where Wheeler clocks in
16% of workers
11% of workers
6% 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.
35% of the jobs in Wheeler make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wheeler, 2013 → 2023: 90 → 40. 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 Wheeler’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Wheeler takes about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wheeler workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 93 commuters (the 0% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Wheeler
About 15% 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.
How Wheeler compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wheeler workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeler | – | — | — | 34 min | — |
| South Haven | under 4% | B− | C− | 25 min | $76,003 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wheeler’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 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 Wheeler: questions
What is the poverty rate in Wheeler?
7.1%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wheeler?
34 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wheeler work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Valparaiso (16%, 6 mi), Portage (11%, 5 mi), Hobart (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wheeler without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wheeler, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wheeler
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.