Photo: Roseohioresident · CC BY-SA 4.0Malvern’s household incomes are among the lowest in the country
26.6% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.3% across Ohio. Measured by household income, Malvern is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. The two grades for Malvern are D for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Malvern: the figures worth knowing
Malvern workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 23 across Ohio. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 130 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Malvern than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Malvern fell from 381 in 2013 to 224 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 ↓
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 477 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Malvern’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Malvern is better than 12% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Malvern’s grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($30,630, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (4.3%) is left out: Malvern’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Malvern could be anywhere from D to C−.
The daily trip from Malvern: about 40 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Malvern workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 588 commuters (the 13% 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.
Jobs in Malvern: what the 224 are
224 jobs are based in Malvern.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Malvern, 2013 → 2023: 381 → 224. 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 Malvern’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Malvern on a workday afternoon
On a workday 465 residents head out to work, 12 work right here, and 212 people come in from elsewhere.
About 840 people are in Malvern on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.47 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.
14% of working residents work in Canton
Where Malvern clocks in
14% of workers
9% of workers
6% 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 Malvern’s workers travel
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Malvern
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Malvern is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.7% across Ohio, on an EPA index of 7.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 677 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). 24.9% of Malvern households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Malvern’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500, Malvern ranks 2,994th of 3,771 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Bratenahl OH | 1,396 | $138K | 4.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Sharon Center OH | 1,129 | $111K | 0.4% | 0.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Boston Heights OH | 1,408 | $121K | 4.1% | 4.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,992 | La Harpe IL | 1,124 | $49K | 12.9% | 1.0% | 10% | D |
| 2,993 | Elephant Butte NM | 1,456 | $53K | 10.7% | 5.3% | 7% | D |
| 2,994 | Malvern OH | 1,092 | $31K | 26.6% | 4.3% | 3% | D |
| 2,995 | Pendleton Township IL | 1,133 | $58K | 16.2% | 1.6% | 1% | D |
| 2,996 | Medway ME | 1,197 | $56K | 11.4% | 5.2% | 5% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Malvern, 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 Malvern: questions
What is the median household income in Malvern?
$30,630 (±$5,872) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Malvern?
26.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Malvern?
40 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Malvern work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Canton (14%, 13 mi), Brown Township (9%, 1 mi), Jackson Township (6%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Malvern walkable?
Malvern is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Malvern without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 25% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Malvern, from the people who make the trip.
More of Malvern
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.