Photo: Nyttend · Public domainForest has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Household incomes here are lower than in 80% of U.S. towns. Employers in Forest report 257 jobs, against 508 working residents. Jobs and income earn Forest C−; getting around on foot earns it C−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Forest, in a few figures
Fewer jobs are based in Forest than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Forest fell from 434 in 2013 to 257 in 2023, −41%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Few Forest workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 13% across Ohio. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 508 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Forest’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Forest is better than 23% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Forest’s grade up (11.5%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($55,938, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.5%) is left out: Forest’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Forest could be anywhere from D to B−.
Making and building: 68% of jobs based in Forest
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forest, 2013 → 2023: 434 → 257. 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 Forest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 22 minutes in Forest
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forest workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 671 commuters (the 3% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Forest
On a workday 464 residents head out to work, 44 work right here, and 213 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Forest on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer 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.
13% of working residents work in Kenton
Where Forest clocks in
13% of workers
9% 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.
How far Forest’s workers travel
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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Forest is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Forest is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Forest 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 691 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). 1.3% of Forest households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Forest’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Forest ranks: 3,531st of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | New California OH | 1,672 | $162K | 0.0% | 1.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Millcreek Township OH | 1,562 | $151K | 2.3% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Bratenahl OH | 1,396 | $138K | 4.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,529 | Newton AL | 1,652 | $60K | 15.0% | 3.0% | 1% | C− |
| 3,530 | Cambridge NE | 1,066 | $62K | 7.9% | 0.0% | 15% | C− |
| 3,531 | Forest OH | 1,332 | $56K | 11.5% | 2.5% | 9% | C− |
| 3,532 | Gillett WI | 1,276 | $55K | 11.5% | 5.2% | 8% | C− |
| 3,533 | Franklin NY | 1,139 | $88K | 16.8% | 3.2% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Forest, 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 Forest: questions
What is the median household income in Forest?
$55,938 (±$17,712) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forest?
11.5%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forest?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forest work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kenton (13%, 12 mi), Upper Sandusky (9%, 13 mi), Columbus (5%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Forest walkable?
Forest is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forest without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Forest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forest
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.