Photo: The original uploader was Geoffrey.landis at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 1.0Berea has higher unemployment (5.2%) than 64% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Berea B; getting around on foot earns it A. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 11.7 in Cleveland. About one in ten work in Berea itself; outside it, Cleveland draws the most (25%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Berea in brief
Berea trades workers with the towns around it
Berea has about as many jobs (7,499) as working residents (8,759), but they are mostly different people: 7,982 residents leave for work each day while 6,722 people come in. Only 10% of the jobs in Berea are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Berea and Cleveland trade workers both ways
Cleveland is the top workplace for Berea residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Berea come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 four measures behind Berea’s grade
Job access by car holds Berea’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Berea could be anywhere from B− to A−.
A workday in Berea: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 7,982 residents head out to work, 777 work right here, and 6,722 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 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.
The towns that employ Berea’s residents
Where Berea clocks in
25% of workers
6% 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.
What the 7,499 jobs in Berea are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Berea, 2013 → 2023: 6,894 → 7,499. 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 Berea’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 23 minutes from Berea
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Berea workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,212 commuters (the 17% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Berea
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Berea
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Berea is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #30 of 993 in Ohio. Both inputs place Berea 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 8,718 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 33% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 22% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% 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). 7.1% of Berea households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Berea’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Berea is 933rd among 1,822 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 24,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Powell OH | 18,269 | $195K | 1.1% | 2.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Hudson OH | 23,085 | $171K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 931 | Hillside Township NJ | 22,860 | $100K | 10.7% | 7.6% | 5% | B |
| 932 | Homewood IL | 18,773 | $100K | 9.4% | 8.1% | 7% | B |
| 933 | Berea OH | 17,920 | $75K | 8.1% | 5.2% | 9% | B |
| 934 | Clinton MA | 15,718 | $90K | 8.6% | 5.4% | 12% | B |
| 935 | Artesia CA | 15,789 | $101K | 9.4% | 10.0% | 7% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,822 | 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 Berea, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Next door is work for 12% of Berea
The biggest share goes to Middleburg Heights (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Berea workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berea | – | B | A | 23 min | $74,926 |
| Middleburg Heights | 6% | A | A− | 22 min | $78,815 |
| Olmsted Falls | under 2% | A | C− | 26 min | $96,837 |
| Olmsted Township | under 2% | A | C | 27 min | $96,447 |
| Brook Park | 2% | B+ | B | 21 min | $71,332 |
| Strongsville | 4% | A | B+ | 26 min | $103,253 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Berea’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 Berea: questions
What is the median household income in Berea?
$74,926 (±$9,786) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Berea?
8.1%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Berea?
23 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Berea work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cleveland (25%, 12 mi), Middleburg Heights (6%, 2 mi), Strongsville (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Berea walkable?
Berea is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.1 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Berea without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 22% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Berea, from the people who make the trip.
More of Berea
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.