Photo: USDA Forest Service photo by Kyle Brooks · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Nelsonville (11.6%) is higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 7% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #971 of 992 in Ohio.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns · #70 of 993 in Ohio.
Household incomes here are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 29 minutes each way (Ohio 23, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Nelsonville; the top destination outside it is Athens (15%, 11 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.0 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 11.7 in Cleveland (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Nelsonville, in brief
Nelsonville trades workers with the towns around it
Nelsonville has about as many jobs (1,666) as working residents (1,452), but they are mostly different people: 1,219 residents leave for work each day while 1,433 people come in. Only 14% of the jobs in Nelsonville are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Nelsonville workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 23 across Ohio. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 46 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 Nelsonville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Nelsonville is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #971 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Nelsonville’s grade up (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (11.6%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Nelsonville could be anywhere from D− to C.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,219 residents head out to work, 233 work right here, and 1,433 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 (1.15 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.
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Ohio
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nelsonville workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,422 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
15% of working residents work in Athens
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Nelsonville clocks in
15% of workers
8% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
1,666 jobs are based in Nelsonville. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Nelsonville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nelsonville, 2013 → 2023: 1,715 → 1,666. 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.
Half of Nelsonville commutes less than 20 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 29% 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.
Nelsonville is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Nelsonville is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #70 of 993 in Ohio. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.9% 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 1,497 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 12.1% of Nelsonville households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Nelsonville’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Nelsonville compares with U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,100
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Nelsonville, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | South Russell OH | 3,913 | $172K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Beechwood Trails OH | 3,133 | $111K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Guilford Township OH | 3,158 | $112K | 0.5% | 1.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,832 | Sandy Creek NY | 3,824 | $67K | 22.0% | 9.9% | 11% | D |
| 3,833 | Patterson LA | 5,565 | $50K | 22.9% | 9.5% | 7% | D |
| 3,834 | Nelsonville OH | 4,488 | $50K | 16.6% | 11.6% | 16% | D |
| 3,835 | Boscobel WI | 3,250 | $54K | 20.6% | 7.1% | 29% | D |
| 3,836 | Kaplan LA | 4,116 | $40K | 35.3% | 8.8% | 12% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,088 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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.
Nelsonville and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to York Township (1%). Darker towns draw more of Nelsonville’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Nelsonville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelsonville | – | D | A− | 29 min | $49,750 |
| Buchtel | under 1% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| York Township | 1% | D | B+ | 41 min | $56,208 |
| Ward Township | under 1% | D | D− | 33 min | $47,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Buchtel: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Nelsonville: questions
What is the median household income in Nelsonville?
$49,750 (±$16,007) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nelsonville?
16.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nelsonville?
29 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nelsonville work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Athens (15%, 11 mi), Columbus (8%, 54 mi), Logan (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Nelsonville walkable?
Nelsonville is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Nelsonville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Nelsonville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nelsonville
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.