Photo: w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0Amherst has higher household incomes than 69% of U.S. towns
Amherst grades B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 6.2% of residents are in poverty, where Ohio as a whole has 13.3%. A typical one-way commute from Amherst lasts 25 minutes (Ohio 23, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Amherst apart on work
The better-paid jobs are outside Amherst
63% of Amherst residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Amherst pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 90% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Amherst’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Amherst is Cleveland, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (693) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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 the Jobs & income grade adds up in Amherst
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Amherst is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #349 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Amherst’s grade up (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Amherst could be anywhere from B to A.
The kinds of work in Amherst
4,875 jobs are based in Amherst.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Amherst, 2013 → 2023: 4,343 → 4,875. 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 Amherst’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Amherst’s workers travel
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 a workday changes Amherst
On a workday 5,514 residents head out to work, 596 work right here, and 4,279 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Amherst on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.80 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.
11% of working residents work in Cleveland
Where Amherst clocks in
11% of workers
9% of workers
9% 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.
About 25 minutes to work from Amherst
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Amherst workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,917 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% 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.
Most of Amherst commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Amherst is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #432 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.7% across Ohio.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,526 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). 2.2% of Amherst households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Amherst’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Amherst is 999th among 2,526 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 4 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Jerome Township OH | 11,237 | $176K | 0.4% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 997 | St. Marys Township OH | 11,069 | $75K | 6.8% | 1.4% | 23% | B+ |
| 998 | Alpine CA | 15,180 | $109K | 13.0% | 3.0% | 7% | B+ |
| 999 | Amherst OH | 12,974 | $91K | 6.2% | 4.8% | 10% | B+ |
| 1,000 | Progress Village FL | 10,450 | $89K | 7.4% | 4.6% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,001 | Murrells Inlet SC | 10,044 | $77K | 7.3% | 2.0% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Amherst, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Work next door: 11% of Amherst’s workers
The biggest share goes to Lorain (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Amherst workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amherst | – | B+ | B− | 25 min | $90,725 |
| Amherst Township | 2% | B | C | 26 min | $82,554 |
| Lorain | 9% | C− | C+ | 25 min | $48,685 |
| Brownhelm Township | under 2% | C+ | C | 28 min | $62,452 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Amherst’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 Amherst: questions
What is the median household income in Amherst?
$90,725 (±$10,755) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Amherst?
6.2%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Amherst?
25 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Amherst work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cleveland (11%, 29 mi), Elyria (9%, 7 mi), Lorain (9%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Amherst walkable?
Amherst is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Amherst without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Amherst, from the people who make the trip.
More of Amherst
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.