Photo: Bennett-ne · CC BY-SA 3.0At 8.1%, unemployment in Bedford is higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Bedford are C for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 11.7 in Cleveland. Household incomes here are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Bedford apart on work
Bedford and Cleveland trade workers both ways
Cleveland is the top workplace for Bedford residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Bedford come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Bedford residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 7% work more than 50 miles away. 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.
The figures behind Bedford’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bedford is better than 35% of U.S. towns, #782 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Bedford’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bedford could be anywhere from C to B−.
23% of working residents work in Cleveland
Where Bedford clocks in
23% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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.
The commute from Bedford, by distance
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.
Who commutes out of Bedford, and who commutes in
On a workday 5,742 residents head out to work, 238 work right here, and 3,639 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Bedford on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.65 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.
Jobs in Bedford: what the 3,877 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bedford, 2013 → 2023: 4,548 → 3,877. 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 Bedford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Bedford: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bedford workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,407 commuters (the 11% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Bedford
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bedford is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #33 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 6,048 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 34% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 8.5% of Bedford households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Bedford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bedford is 1,752nd of 2,354 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,750 | Plains Township PA | 10,010 | $74K | 16.8% | 7.2% | 15% | C+ |
| 1,751 | Chippewa Falls WI | 15,293 | $58K | 15.4% | 4.0% | 26% | C+ |
| 1,752 | Bedford OH | 12,723 | $57K | 13.6% | 8.1% | 4% | C |
| 1,753 | Millington TN | 12,953 | $50K | 16.5% | 4.7% | 10% | C |
| 1,754 | Waimea HI | 9,286 | $100K | 12.3% | 5.4% | 18% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | 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 Bedford, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Around Bedford: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Bedford Heights (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bedford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedford | – | C | A | 20 min | $57,308 |
| Walton Hills | under 2% | A− | C− | 24 min | $106,055 |
| Oakwood | 2% | C+ | C+ | 19 min | $67,813 |
| Bedford Heights | 3% | C+ | A | 24 min | $50,269 |
| Maple Heights | under 2% | C− | A | 22 min | $53,414 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bedford’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 Bedford: questions
What is the median household income in Bedford?
$57,308 (±$4,728) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bedford?
13.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bedford?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bedford work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cleveland (23%, 10 mi), Solon (7%, 5 mi), Twinsburg (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bedford walkable?
Bedford is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bedford without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 34% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bedford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bedford
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.