Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Households in Lancaster have lower incomes than those in 75% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Lancaster; the top destination outside it is Columbus (22%, 27 miles). Below the poverty line: 12.6% of residents, next to 13.3% across Ohio. Lancaster grades 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
Work in Lancaster, in a few figures
Lancaster trades workers with the towns around it
Lancaster has about as many jobs (17,398) as working residents (17,942), but they are mostly different people: 13,298 residents leave for work each day while 12,754 people come in. Only 27% of the jobs in Lancaster are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Lancaster’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lancaster is Columbus, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (3,979) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Lancaster workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 23 across Ohio. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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.
What’s behind Lancaster’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lancaster is better than 40% of U.S. towns, #727 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Lancaster’s grade up (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($59,133, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lancaster could be anywhere from C to B.
The workday shuffle in and out of Lancaster
On a workday 13,298 residents head out to work, 4,644 work right here, and 12,754 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.97 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.
Lancaster’s commute, mile by mile
About 15% 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.
Time on the road from Lancaster: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lancaster workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,868 commuters (the 9% 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.
Where Lancaster’s working residents head each day
Where Lancaster clocks in
22% of workers
3% 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.
What work there is in Lancaster: 17,398 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lancaster, 2013 → 2023: 18,198 → 17,398. 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 Lancaster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Lancaster commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lancaster is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #151 of 993 in Ohio. Both inputs place Lancaster 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 18,593 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). 7.7% of Lancaster households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Lancaster’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 29,000 to 57,000, Lancaster ranks 834th of 1,054 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 4 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Dublin OH | 49,094 | $160K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 15% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 832 | Aiken SC | 33,808 | $77K | 17.0% | 5.4% | 26% | C+ |
| 833 | Apache Junction AZ | 45,672 | $61K | 10.6% | 6.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 834 | Lancaster OH | 41,956 | $59K | 12.6% | 5.0% | 26% | C+ |
| 835 | Concord Township IN | 56,145 | $55K | 16.5% | 3.9% | 25% | C+ |
| 836 | Bell Gardens CA | 37,367 | $62K | 20.0% | 5.9% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,054 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Lancaster, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Next door to Lancaster
The biggest share goes to Greenfield Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lancaster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster | – | C+ | B+ | 28 min | $59,133 |
| Hocking Township | under 2% | A− | C | 34 min | $86,958 |
| Pleasant Township | under 2% | B | D | 30 min | $107,052 |
| Greenfield Township | 3% | B+ | C− | 27 min | $86,292 |
| Berne Township | under 2% | B | C− | 28 min | $83,463 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lancaster’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 Lancaster: questions
What is the median household income in Lancaster?
$59,133 (±$4,378) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lancaster?
12.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lancaster?
28 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lancaster work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbus (22%, 27 mi), Greenfield Township (3%, 5 mi), Canal Winchester (2%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lancaster walkable?
Lancaster is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lancaster 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 Lancaster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lancaster
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.