Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Barberton have lower incomes than those in 85% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Barberton C+; getting around on foot earns it B+. 15.6% of residents are in poverty, where Ohio as a whole has 13.3%. About one in ten stay in Barberton for work; outside it, Akron is the main destination (20%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Barberton apart on work
Barberton and Akron trade workers both ways
Akron is the top workplace for Barberton residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Barberton come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Barberton makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Barberton are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Barberton residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. 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.
The figures behind Barberton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Barberton is better than 40% of U.S. towns, #722 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Barberton’s grade up (ahead of 82% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($52,267, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Barberton could be anywhere from C to B.
Where people from Barberton work
Where Barberton clocks in
20% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
In Barberton, 36% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
7,572 jobs are based in Barberton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Barberton, 2013 → 2023: 9,215 → 7,572. 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 Barberton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Barberton
On a workday 9,851 residents head out to work, 1,191 work right here, and 6,381 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Barberton on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.69 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
From Barberton, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Barberton workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,392 commuters (the 7% 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.
The distance from Barberton to work
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 Barberton: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Barberton is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #203 of 993 in Ohio. Both inputs place Barberton 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 11,155 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 8.4% of Barberton households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Barberton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Barberton is 1,232nd of 1,642 U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000 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 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| 4 | Powell OH | 18,269 | $195K | 1.1% | 2.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Hudson OH | 23,085 | $171K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Genoa Township OH | 27,720 | $177K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,230 | South El Monte CA | 18,963 | $73K | 20.9% | 7.4% | 8% | C+ |
| 1,231 | Thomasville NC | 27,733 | $61K | 16.3% | 4.6% | 14% | C+ |
| 1,232 | Barberton OH | 24,748 | $52K | 15.6% | 4.2% | 11% | C+ |
| 1,233 | Honey Creek Township IN | 17,354 | $65K | 10.7% | 4.7% | 16% | C+ |
| 1,234 | El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) CA | 31,626 | $92K | 13.1% | 6.3% | 29% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Barberton, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Bordering towns draw 24% of Barberton’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Barberton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barberton | – | C+ | B+ | 22 min | $52,267 |
| Norton | 4% | A− | C | 23 min | $90,464 |
| Coventry Township | under 2% | B− | C+ | 21 min | $74,346 |
| New Franklin | under 2% | A− | C | 25 min | $90,244 |
| Akron | 20% | C− | A− | 22 min | $48,076 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Akron. Darker towns draw more of Barberton’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 Barberton: questions
What is the median household income in Barberton?
$52,267 (±$3,241) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Barberton?
15.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Barberton?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Barberton work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Akron (20%, 7 mi), Norton (4%, 3 mi), Cleveland (4%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Barberton walkable?
Barberton is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Barberton without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Barberton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Barberton
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.