Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHolgate has lower household incomes than 87% of U.S. towns
2% of workers work from home, against 13% across Ohio. 9.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.3% across Ohio. Jobs and income earn Holgate 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
Jobs and commuting in Holgate: the gist
Holgate and Napoleon trade workers both ways
Napoleon is the top workplace for Holgate residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Holgate come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Holgate
58% of Holgate residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 37% of the jobs based in Holgate pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Holgate pay little
30% of the jobs based in Holgate pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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; with 459 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Holgate gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Holgate is better than 24% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Holgate’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($50,690, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (5.8%) is left out: Holgate’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, Holgate could be anywhere from D to B−.
20% of working residents work in Napoleon
Where Holgate clocks in
20% 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.
The 356 jobs based in Holgate
356 jobs are based in Holgate.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Holgate, 2013 → 2023: 293 → 356. 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 Holgate’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Holgate
On a workday 428 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 325 people come in from elsewhere.
About 950 people are in Holgate on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 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.
The daily trip from Holgate: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Holgate workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 401 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.
How many miles Holgate commutes
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.
In Holgate, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Holgate is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 408 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). 4.6% of Holgate households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Holgate’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400, Holgate ranks 1,969th of 3,133 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Bratenahl OH | 1,396 | $138K | 4.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| 35 | Sharon Center OH | 1,129 | $111K | 0.4% | 0.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Granville South OH | 1,146 | $131K | 4.5% | 0.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,967 | Toulon IL | 1,172 | $59K | 11.3% | 2.9% | 9% | C− |
| 1,968 | Wells NV | 1,245 | $107K | 21.3% | 5.5% | 31% | C− |
| 1,969 | Holgate OH | 1,050 | $51K | 9.9% | 5.8% | 7% | C− |
| 1,970 | Chesapeake WV | 1,270 | $61K | 21.5% | 2.3% | 1% | C− |
| 1,971 | Mars Hill ME | 1,318 | $65K | 9.6% | 10.8% | 21% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Holgate, 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 Holgate: questions
What is the median household income in Holgate?
$50,690 (±$8,046) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Holgate?
9.9%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Holgate?
26 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Holgate work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Napoleon (20%, 10 mi), Defiance (9%, 12 mi), Archbold (4%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Holgate walkable?
Holgate is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Holgate 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 Holgate, from the people who make the trip.
More of Holgate
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.