Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainHouseholds in Orwell have lower incomes than those in 95% of U.S. towns
5% of workers work from home, against 13% across Ohio. Below the poverty line: 27.4% of residents, against 13.3% across Ohio. The two grades for Orwell are D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Orwell, in a few figures
Orwell makes and builds things
54% of the jobs based in Orwell are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Orwell residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 37%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Orwell than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Orwell fell from 924 in 2013 to 599 in 2023, −35%. 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 ↓
Orwell workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 23 across Ohio. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 54 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; with 422 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Orwell: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Orwell is better than 7% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Orwell’s grade up (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($41,563, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (6.7%) is left out: Orwell’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, Orwell could be anywhere from D to C−.
Goods jobs make up 54% of work in Orwell
599 jobs are based in Orwell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orwell, 2013 → 2023: 924 → 599. 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 Orwell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Orwell spends getting to work: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orwell workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 761 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.
Orwell by day and by night
On a workday 393 residents head out to work, 29 work right here, and 570 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Orwell on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.42 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.
10% of working residents work in Orwell Township
Where Orwell clocks in
10% of workers
5% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Orwell
About 16% 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 Orwell, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orwell is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.7% across Ohio, on an EPA index of 5.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 802 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). 6.5% of Orwell households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Orwell’s commuters take a bus or train.
5,470th of 6,308: where Orwell ranks among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | New California OH | 1,672 | $162K | 0.0% | 1.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Millcreek Township OH | 1,562 | $151K | 2.3% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Bratenahl OH | 1,396 | $138K | 4.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,468 | Fort Ashby WV | 1,283 | $45K | 16.6% | 0.0% | 4% | D |
| 5,469 | Purvis MS | 1,969 | $46K | 22.8% | 1.8% | 12% | D |
| 5,470 | Orwell OH | 1,499 | $42K | 27.4% | 6.7% | 7% | D |
| 5,471 | Warner OK | 1,587 | $55K | 19.8% | 5.8% | 10% | D |
| 5,472 | Varnville SC | 1,626 | $56K | 14.4% | 14.5% | 8% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Orwell, 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 Orwell: questions
What is the median household income in Orwell?
$41,563 (±$11,313) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orwell?
27.4%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orwell?
30 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orwell work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Orwell Township (10%, 0 mi), Middlefield Township (5%, 10 mi), Middlefield (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Orwell walkable?
Orwell is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orwell without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orwell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orwell
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.