Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Norwalk’s household incomes are lower than in 73% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 16.3% of residents (Ohio 13.3%). The two grades for Norwalk are C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Home is the office for 5% of workers (Ohio 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Norwalk stands out on work
The four measures behind Norwalk’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Norwalk is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #839 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Norwalk’s grade up (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Norwalk could be anywhere from D to B−.
How a workday changes Norwalk
On a workday 5,307 residents head out to work, 2,261 work right here, and 6,353 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 (1.14 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.
6% of working residents work in Sandusky
Where Norwalk clocks in
6% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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 the 8,614 jobs in Norwalk are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Norwalk, 2013 → 2023: 7,406 → 8,614. 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 Norwalk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 21 minutes in Norwalk
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Norwalk workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,461 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How far Norwalk goes to work
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.
In Norwalk, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Norwalk is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #524 of 993 in Ohio. Both inputs place Norwalk 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 7,850 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). 5.1% of Norwalk households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Norwalk’s commuters take a bus or train.
Norwalk is 1,654th of 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Powell OH | 18,269 | $195K | 1.1% | 2.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Bexley OH | 12,452 | $158K | 3.5% | 2.5% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,652 | Nanakuli HI | 12,383 | $87K | 18.2% | 11.2% | 2% | C |
| 1,653 | Livingston CA | 14,690 | $74K | 17.1% | 11.6% | 17% | C |
| 1,654 | Norwalk OH | 17,191 | $61K | 16.3% | 5.4% | 30% | C |
| 1,655 | Port Angeles WA | 20,146 | $63K | 11.5% | 5.1% | 40% | C |
| 1,656 | Monroe MI | 20,076 | $60K | 19.2% | 7.3% | 17% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | 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 Norwalk, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Norwalk and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Norwalk Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Norwalk workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwalk | – | C | C+ | 21 min | $60,844 |
| Norwalk Township | 2% | B | C+ | 22 min | $62,399 |
| Ridgefield Township | under 2% | B− | D | 20 min | $70,199 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Norwalk’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 Norwalk: questions
What is the median household income in Norwalk?
$60,844 (±$10,744) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Norwalk?
16.3%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Norwalk?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Norwalk work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sandusky (6%, 16 mi), Perkins Township (4%, 11 mi), Milan Township (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Norwalk walkable?
Norwalk is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Norwalk 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 Norwalk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Norwalk
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.