Phillip Henninger House · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainUnemployment in Parma (6.5%) is higher than in 78% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 11.7 in Cleveland. For jobs and income Parma is better than 51% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (A−). About one in ten work in Parma; the top destination outside it is Cleveland (27%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Parma at work: what stands out
Parma and Cleveland trade workers both ways
Cleveland is the top workplace for Parma residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Parma come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Parma residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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.
Inside Parma’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Parma’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Parma could be anywhere from C+ to B.
The places Parma commutes to
Where Parma clocks in
27% of workers
3% 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.
How far Parma goes to work
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.
Parma by day and by night
On a workday 34,853 residents head out to work, 3,699 work right here, and 18,520 people come in from elsewhere.
About 62,000 people are in Parma on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.58 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.
Inside Parma’s 22,219 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Parma, 2013 → 2023: 25,399 → 22,219. 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 Parma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Parma: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Parma workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 36,474 commuters (the 12% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Parma
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.7% across Ohio.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 41,305 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 18% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 79% 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). 4.6% of Parma households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Parma’s commuters take a bus or train.
Parma is 381st of 573 U.S. towns of 55,000 to 106,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 92 | Beavercreek Township OH | 57,924 | $117K | 6.1% | 3.3% | 20% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Washington Township OH | 63,075 | $99K | 6.2% | 2.9% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Green Township OH | 60,480 | $88K | 4.8% | 3.0% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 379 | Danbury CT | 89,033 | $83K | 11.7% | 6.5% | 31% | B− |
| 380 | Four Corners FL | 65,048 | $73K | 10.5% | 4.8% | 6% | B− |
| 381 | Parma OH | 78,581 | $69K | 10.1% | 6.5% | 10% | B− |
| 382 | Ogden UT | 89,510 | $73K | 13.7% | 4.1% | 36% | B− |
| 383 | Bellflower CA | 74,719 | $79K | 13.3% | 7.6% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 573 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Parma, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Parma and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Parma workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parma | – | B− | A− | 24 min | $69,295 |
| Parma Heights | under 2% | B− | A− | 26 min | $61,009 |
| Seven Hills | under 2% | A | B− | 23 min | $97,222 |
| North Royalton | under 2% | A− | B− | 26 min | $83,670 |
| Brook Park | under 2% | B+ | B | 21 min | $71,332 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Parma’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 Parma: questions
What is the median household income in Parma?
$69,295 (±$3,216) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Parma?
10.1%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Parma?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Parma work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cleveland (27%, 7 mi), Middleburg Heights (3%, 4 mi), Independence (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Parma walkable?
Parma is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Parma without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 18% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Parma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Parma
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.