Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Winchester have lower incomes than those in 85% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Winchester itself; outside it, Indianapolis draws the most (7%, 68 miles). 18.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.3% across Indiana. The two grades for Winchester are C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Winchester apart
Commutes from Winchester 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 ↓
Winchester makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Winchester are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Winchester residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 31%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Winchester earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Winchester is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #540 of 593 in Indiana. Unemployment holds Winchester’s grade up (5.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($52,439, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Winchester could be anywhere from D to B−.
Each way, about 16 minutes from Winchester
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Winchester workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,862 commuters (the 9% 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.
39% of the jobs in Winchester make or build things
2,779 jobs are based in Winchester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Winchester, 2013 → 2023: 3,168 → 2,779. 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 Winchester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Winchester on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,449 residents head out to work, 590 work right here, and 2,189 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,600 people are in Winchester on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 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.
Where Winchester goes to work
Where Winchester clocks in
7% of workers
7% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Winchester
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting around Winchester: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Winchester is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #134 of 593 in Indiana. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Indiana, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,039 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). 4.7% of Winchester households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Winchester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Winchester next to U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500: 3,161st of 3,753 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | Milan Township IN | 4,066 | $120K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Hidden Valley IN | 5,706 | $121K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Georgetown IN | 3,855 | $113K | 2.1% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,159 | New Martinsville WV | 5,039 | $61K | 15.5% | 5.3% | 27% | C− |
| 3,160 | Harbour Heights FL | 4,289 | $65K | 14.2% | 16.4% | 3% | C− |
| 3,161 | Winchester IN | 4,817 | $52K | 18.3% | 5.0% | 29% | C− |
| 3,162 | Whiteville NC | 4,765 | $31K | 20.7% | 3.2% | 27% | C− |
| 3,163 | Perry Township IN | 5,067 | $65K | 22.0% | 4.9% | 18% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Winchester, 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 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 Winchester: questions
What is the median household income in Winchester?
$52,439 (±$8,930) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Winchester?
18.3%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Winchester?
16 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Winchester work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (7%, 68 mi), Muncie (7%, 22 mi), Richmond (6%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Winchester walkable?
Winchester is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Winchester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Winchester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Winchester
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. 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.