Photo: Nyttend · Public domainFostoria has lower household incomes than 82% of U.S. towns
2% of workers work from home (Ohio 13%). Below the poverty line: 16.4% of residents, next to 13.3% for Ohio as a whole. For jobs and income Fostoria is better than 19% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Fostoria, in a few figures
The quickest commute around
Fostoria’s 23-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 27 to 28 minutes. Next door ↓
Few Fostoria 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 ↓
Fostoria makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Fostoria are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Fostoria residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 37%. The jobs ↓
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.
The figures behind Fostoria’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Fostoria’s grade up (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($54,151, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fostoria could be anywhere from D to C.
Commuting from Fostoria: about 23 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fostoria workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,569 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Making and building: 36% of jobs based in Fostoria
4,176 jobs are based in Fostoria.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fostoria, 2013 → 2023: 4,459 → 4,176. 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 Fostoria’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Fostoria, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 4,421 residents head out to work, 1,334 work right here, and 2,842 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Fostoria on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.73 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.
17% of working residents work in Findlay
Where Fostoria clocks in
17% 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.
How many miles Fostoria commutes
About 19% 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.
Driving is how Fostoria gets around
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,710 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). 8.5% of Fostoria households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Fostoria’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fostoria places 2,077th of 2,354 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 4 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Jerome Township OH | 11,237 | $176K | 0.4% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,075 | Athol MA | 12,129 | $69K | 16.3% | 7.0% | 19% | C− |
| 2,076 | Cottonwood AZ | 12,709 | $48K | 18.6% | 3.1% | 22% | C− |
| 2,077 | Fostoria OH | 12,920 | $54K | 16.4% | 6.2% | 23% | C− |
| 2,078 | Fremont OH | 15,765 | $47K | 22.7% | 5.5% | 30% | C− |
| 2,079 | Marietta OH | 13,053 | $48K | 19.1% | 4.7% | 36% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | 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 Fostoria, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Fostoria and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fostoria workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fostoria | – | C− | B+ | 23 min | $54,151 |
| Loudon Township | under 2% | B | D | 28 min | $83,185 |
| Jackson Township | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Perry Township | under 2% | B− | C | 27 min | $67,868 |
Same-state neighbors only. Jackson Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fostoria’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 Fostoria: questions
What is the median household income in Fostoria?
$54,151 (±$5,241) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fostoria?
16.4%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fostoria?
23 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fostoria work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Findlay (17%, 14 mi), Tiffin (4%, 12 mi), Allen Township (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fostoria walkable?
Fostoria is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fostoria without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fostoria, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fostoria
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.