Photo: Weslee3 · CC BY-SA 3.0At 3.4%, unemployment in Centerville is lower than in 63% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 9.5 in Dayton. The two grades for Centerville are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in ten work in Centerville; the top destination outside it is Dayton (15%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Centerville, in a few figures
Where Centerville’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Centerville is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #324 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Centerville could be anywhere from B to A.
The daily commute in and out of Centerville
On a workday 9,188 residents head out to work, 808 work right here, and 10,005 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 (1.08 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.
Where Centerville’s working residents head each day
Where Centerville clocks in
15% of workers
9% of workers
8% 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 kinds of work in Centerville
10,813 jobs are based in Centerville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Centerville, 2013 → 2023: 8,786 → 10,813. 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 Centerville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Centerville: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Centerville workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,959 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Centerville
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Centerville
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Centerville is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #132 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.4% 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 12,009 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 63% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 75% 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). 5.9% of Centerville households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Centerville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Centerville is 640th among 1,516 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 34,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Genoa Township OH | 27,720 | $177K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 638 | Greene Township PA | 18,721 | $88K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 8% | A− |
| 639 | Wadsworth OH | 24,720 | $79K | 8.1% | 2.9% | 13% | A− |
| 640 | Centerville OH | 25,194 | $85K | 8.6% | 3.4% | 8% | A− |
| 641 | Five Corners WA | 21,194 | $106K | 8.6% | 4.4% | 2% | A− |
| 642 | Stonington CT | 18,832 | $115K | 7.0% | 3.5% | 20% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,516 | 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 Centerville, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
17% of Centerville works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Kettering (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Centerville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centerville | – | A− | A− | 20 min | $85,492 |
| Washington Township | 8% | A | B+ | 22 min | $98,679 |
| Kettering | 9% | B+ | A− | 20 min | $74,681 |
| Sugarcreek Township | under 2% | A+ | C+ | 23 min | $186,172 |
| Bellbrook | under 2% | A+ | C | 23 min | $111,513 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Centerville’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 Centerville: questions
What is the median household income in Centerville?
$85,492 (±$7,617) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Centerville?
8.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Centerville?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Centerville work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dayton (15%, 11 mi), Kettering (9%, 4 mi), Washington Township (8%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Centerville walkable?
Centerville is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Centerville without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Centerville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Centerville
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.