Photo: Webprog67 · CC BY-SA 4.0Bethesda’s household incomes are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D−: better than 4% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability C−: more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 18 minutes each way (Ohio 23, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in Bethesda; the top destination outside it is Richland Township (11%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Bethesda
Bethesda is a place people come home to
There are 82 jobs based in Bethesda, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Bethesda has about 760 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Bethesda workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 13% across Ohio. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Bethesda are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 23 across Ohio. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Ohio worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 501 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Bethesda’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Bethesda is better than 4% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Bethesda’s grade up (ahead of 23% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($35,900, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.8%) is left out: Bethesda’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Bethesda could be anywhere from D− to D.
Bethesda quiets down on a workday
On a workday 489 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 70 people come in from elsewhere.
About 760 people are in Bethesda on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
0.16 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.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Ohio
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bethesda workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 498 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
11% of working residents work in Richland Township
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Bethesda clocks in
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 82 jobs in Bethesda are
82 jobs are based in Bethesda. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bethesda’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bethesda, 2013 → 2023: 92 → 82. 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.
Half of Bethesda commutes less than 17 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 26% 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 2023.
Most trips from Bethesda start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bethesda is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.0% 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 507 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.9% of Bethesda households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bethesda’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Bethesda compares with U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Bethesda, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Millcreek Township OH | 1,562 | $151K | 2.3% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Bratenahl OH | 1,396 | $138K | 4.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Coldstream OH | 1,540 | $232K | 0.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,928 | Bismarck MO | 1,224 | $40K | 20.3% | 7.6% | 6% | D− |
| 3,929 | Rose Hill NC | 1,429 | $49K | 23.5% | 6.3% | 9% | D− |
| 3,930 | Bethesda OH | 1,179 | $36K | 21.8% | 2.8% | 2% | D− |
| 3,931 | Stinnett TX | 1,594 | $45K | 20.0% | 3.4% | 7% | D− |
| 3,932 | Cedar Bluff VA | 1,003 | $37K | 17.4% | 2.8% | 3% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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.
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 Bethesda: questions
What is the median household income in Bethesda?
$35,900 (±$8,187) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bethesda?
21.8%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bethesda?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bethesda work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richland Township (11%, 9 mi), St. Clairsville (9%, 10 mi), Union Township (8%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bethesda walkable?
Bethesda is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bethesda without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bethesda, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bethesda
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.