Photo: EEJCC · CC BY-SA 4.0Cincinnati has 1.8 jobs for every working resident: 173,527 people commute in to work
There are 224,701 jobs in Cincinnati; 126,817 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Cincinnati are C− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Cincinnati in brief
Cincinnati is where the jobs are
Cincinnati has 224,701 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Cincinnati draws workers from far and wide
The 224,701 jobs in Cincinnati are filled from a wide area. Cincinnati’s own residents hold 23% and the ten next-biggest home towns 12%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. 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.
What’s behind Cincinnati’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cincinnati is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #854 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Cincinnati’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (25.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cincinnati could be anywhere from C− to C.
Cincinnati by day and by night
On a workday 75,643 residents head out to work and 51,174 work right here.
About 412,000 people are in Cincinnati on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
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 daily trip into Cincinnati
Where Cincinnati clocks in
3% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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.
In Cincinnati, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cincinnati, 2013 → 2023: 193,879 → 224,701. 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 Cincinnati’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Cincinnati takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cincinnati workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 129,910 commuters (the 15% 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.
How far Cincinnati goes to work
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.
Cincinnati is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 152,775 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 95% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 56% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 15.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 17.1% of Cincinnati households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Cincinnati’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Cincinnati next to U.S. towns of 220,000 to 424,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Laredo TX | 269,515 | $64K | 20.9% | 5.4% | 76% | C |
| 62 | New Orleans LA | 362,154 | $57K | 22.6% | 7.5% | 57% | C |
| 63 | Cincinnati OH | 314,367 | $53K | 25.5% | 6.8% | 40% | C− |
| 64 | Newark NJ | 323,808 | $52K | 23.4% | 11.6% | 25% | C− |
| 65 | Buffalo NY | 274,613 | $50K | 26.0% | 7.3% | 42% | C− |
| 66 | Toledo OH | 263,423 | $50K | 24.3% | 7.7% | 44% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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 Cincinnati, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
How Cincinnati compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cincinnati workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | – | C− | A+ | 22 min | $52,909 |
| Anderson Township | under 2% | A | B+ | 24 min | $121,661 |
| Delhi Township | under 2% | B+ | B+ | 24 min | $90,781 |
| Columbia Township | under 2% | C | A | 20 min | $68,088 |
| Springfield Township | under 2% | B− | B+ | 24 min | $73,682 |
| Green Township | under 2% | A | B− | 25 min | $88,314 |
| Miami Township | under 2% | B | C− | 28 min | $99,375 |
| Finneytown | under 2% | B+ | B− | 24 min | $83,424 |
| Addyston | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Delhi Hills | under 2% | A | B+ | 23 min | $99,049 |
| Monfort Heights | under 2% | A | B | 25 min | $88,457 |
Same-state neighbors only. Addyston: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cincinnati’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 Cincinnati: questions
What is the median household income in Cincinnati?
$52,909 (±$1,946) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cincinnati?
25.5%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cincinnati?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cincinnati work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Blue Ash (3%, 10 mi), West Chester Township (2%, 14 mi), Norwood (2%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cincinnati walkable?
Cincinnati is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.8 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cincinnati without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. 56% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cincinnati, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cincinnati
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.