Photo: OHIO fan at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.047% of Athens Township’s residents are college students
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 11.7 in Cleveland. Jobs and income earn Athens Township C+; getting around on foot earns it A+. About two in five work in Athens Township; the top destination outside it is Athens (38%, 1 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Athens Township stands out on work
Athens Township and Athens trade workers both ways
Athens is the top workplace for Athens Township residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Athens Township come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
38% 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 ↓
Commutes from Athens Township are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 23 across Ohio. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Ohio worker, and quicker than any town next door (20 to 34 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Athens Township draws workers from far and wide
The 12,276 jobs in Athens Township are filled from a wide area. Athens Township’s own residents hold 26% and the ten next-biggest home towns 16%; the other 58% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Athens Township is services
86% 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 ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Athens Township’s grade explained
On family income, poverty and job access, Athens Township is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #756 of 992 in Ohio. Family income holds Athens Township’s grade up ($99,978, U.S. $99,999); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.7%, U.S. 11.9%).
Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (34% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 15.7%, against 33.0% for all residents. Unemployment (7.8%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($99,978), since student households pull the household median down ($48,696).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Athens Township could be anywhere from C− to B.
Where Athens Township’s working residents head each day
Where Athens Township clocks in
38% 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.
Where in the region Athens Township works
About 38% 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.
Athens Township’s commute takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Athens Township workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,418 commuters (the 18% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Athens Township
12,276 jobs are based in Athens Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Athens Township, 2014 → 2024: 12,321 → 12,276. 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 Athens Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Athens Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 5,055 residents head out to work, 3,147 work right here, and 9,129 people come in from elsewhere.
About 36,000 people are in Athens Township on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.50 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Athens Township is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Athens Township is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #3 of 993 in Ohio. Both inputs place Athens Township 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 13,951 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 74% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 29% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 7.0% of Athens Township households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Athens Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Athens Township is 1,093rd of 1,368 U.S. towns of 22,000 to 43,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 8% | A+ |
| 7 | Hudson OH | 23,085 | $171K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,091 | Beloit WI | 36,649 | $63K | 15.0% | 5.3% | 27% | C+ |
| 1,092 | Dalton GA | 35,322 | $64K | 18.6% | 4.3% | 37% | C+ |
| 1,093 | Athens Township OH | 31,531 | $49K | 33.0% | 7.8% | 38% | C+ |
| 1,094 | Greenville TX | 37,069 | $63K | 11.5% | 5.7% | 28% | C+ |
| 1,095 | Kalamazoo Township MI | 22,523 | $58K | 11.6% | 6.3% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,368 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 16% | 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 Athens Township, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
The towns around Athens Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Athens Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens Township | – | C+ | A+ | 17 min | $48,696 |
| Dover Township | under 1% | C | B− | 20 min | $55,170 |
| Waterloo Township | under 1% | C+ | C | 34 min | $67,188 |
| Alexander Township | under 1% | C | D− | 32 min | $80,956 |
| Canaan Township | under 1% | C− | D | 23 min | $57,955 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Athens Township’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. 47% 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 Athens Township: questions
What is the median household income in Athens Township?
$48,696 (±$4,251) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Athens Township?
33.0% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 15.7%. Ohio: 13.3%.
How long is the commute from Athens Township?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Athens Township work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Athens (38%, 1 mi), Columbus (9%, 64 mi), The Plains (3%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Athens Township walkable?
Athens Township is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 25% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Athens Township without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 29% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Athens Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Athens Township
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.