Riverside Chapel · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainDefiance’s household incomes are lower than in 72% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Defiance itself; outside it, Napoleon draws the most (7%, 15 miles). Poverty touches 14.7% of residents, next to 13.3% for Ohio as a whole. The two grades for Defiance are C for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Defiance apart
What’s behind Defiance’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Defiance is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #849 of 992 in Ohio. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Defiance’s grade.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Defiance could be anywhere from D to B−.
Each way, about 18 minutes from Defiance
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Defiance workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,747 commuters (the 6% 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 many people are in Defiance by day
On a workday 4,794 residents head out to work, 2,364 work right here, and 6,635 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Defiance on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.26 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 Defiance’s working residents head each day
Where Defiance clocks in
7% of workers
4% 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 Defiance’s employers do
8,999 jobs are based in Defiance.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Defiance, 2013 → 2023: 10,691 → 8,999. 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 Defiance’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Defiance
About 18% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Defiance is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Defiance is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #335 of 993 in Ohio. Both inputs place Defiance 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 8,231 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). 5.4% of Defiance households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Defiance’s commuters take a bus or train.
Defiance places 1,678th of 1,999 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Bexley OH | 12,452 | $158K | 3.5% | 2.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,676 | Lincolnton NC | 12,465 | $46K | 22.7% | 3.8% | 14% | C |
| 1,677 | Kingston PA | 13,462 | $55K | 18.3% | 6.4% | 10% | C |
| 1,678 | Defiance OH | 17,009 | $61K | 14.7% | 5.5% | 33% | C |
| 1,679 | South Houston TX | 16,407 | $53K | 26.1% | 8.3% | 4% | C |
| 1,680 | Ottawa IL | 18,684 | $71K | 17.3% | 6.9% | 27% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | 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 Defiance, 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 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 Defiance: questions
What is the median household income in Defiance?
$61,439 (±$6,347) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Defiance?
14.7%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Defiance?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Defiance work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Napoleon (7%, 15 mi), Archbold (4%, 17 mi), Bryan (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Defiance walkable?
Defiance is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Defiance 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 Defiance, from the people who make the trip.
More of Defiance
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.