Households in Bethel have lower incomes than those in 94% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 27.5%; Ohio has 13.3%. Bethel grades D for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 7% work in Bethel; the top destination outside it is Cincinnati (12%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Bethel and work: the main findings
Bethel workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 23 across Ohio. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Bethel’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Bethel is Cincinnati, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (138) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Many jobs in Bethel pay little
29% of the jobs based in Bethel pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Bethel
57% of Bethel residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Bethel pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. 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.
How Bethel earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bethel is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #980 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Bethel’s grade up (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bethel could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The daily trip from Bethel: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bethel workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 855 commuters (the 8% 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.
Bethel’s commute, mile by mile
About 15% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Bethel
704 jobs are based in Bethel.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bethel, 2014 → 2024: 805 → 704. 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 Bethel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Bethel, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,075 residents head out to work, 78 work right here, and 626 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Bethel on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.61 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where people from Bethel work
Where Bethel clocks in
12% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
For most of Bethel, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bethel is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns, #300 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 931 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). 13.5% of Bethel households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bethel’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700, and where Bethel sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Jersey Township OH | 2,678 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Silver Lake OH | 2,504 | $140K | 2.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Evendale OH | 2,657 | $149K | 1.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,657 | La Grange NC | 2,947 | $48K | 32.0% | 14.7% | 2% | D |
| 4,658 | Red Springs NC | 3,216 | $21K | 40.0% | 8.6% | 7% | D |
| 4,659 | Bethel OH | 2,708 | $44K | 27.5% | 9.0% | 7% | D |
| 4,660 | Masontown PA | 3,100 | $54K | 31.7% | 12.6% | 3% | D |
| 4,661 | El Cenizo TX | 2,457 | $49K | 32.9% | 5.9% | 0% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 0% | 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 Bethel, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
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.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Bethel: questions
What is the median household income in Bethel?
$43,779 (±$10,154) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bethel?
27.5%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bethel?
31 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bethel work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cincinnati (12%, 26 mi), Union Township (5%, 14 mi), Batavia Township (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Bethel walkable?
Bethel is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bethel without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bethel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bethel
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.