Photo: Myself · CC BY 2.5Paulding has higher unemployment (9.1%) than 92% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Paulding C−; getting around on foot earns it B−. 4% of workers have no commute at all, against 13% across Ohio.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Paulding and work: the main findings
Income, poverty and work: Paulding’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Paulding is better than 16% of U.S. towns, #920 of 992 in Ohio. The poverty rate holds Paulding’s grade up (11.9%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Paulding could be anywhere from D to B−.
Getting to work from Paulding takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Paulding workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,430 commuters (the 4% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Paulding
On a workday 1,334 residents head out to work, 290 work right here, and 1,075 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 (0.84 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.
8% of working residents work in Defiance
Where Paulding clocks in
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.
Jobs in Paulding: what the 1,365 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Paulding, 2013 → 2023: 1,340 → 1,365. 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 Paulding’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Paulding
About 21% 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.
Few in Paulding walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Paulding is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #459 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% 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 1,493 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). 0.5% of Paulding households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Paulding’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,700, Paulding ranks 3,564th of 4,221 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Jersey Township OH | 2,678 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Silver Lake OH | 2,504 | $140K | 2.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Evendale OH | 2,657 | $149K | 1.5% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,562 | Cascade Valley WA | 4,609 | $61K | 12.6% | 8.7% | 1% | C− |
| 3,563 | Sandusky MI | 2,664 | $57K | 16.1% | 5.0% | 33% | C− |
| 3,564 | Paulding OH | 3,517 | $54K | 11.9% | 9.1% | 18% | C− |
| 3,565 | Clay Township OH | 3,418 | $36K | 27.1% | 3.2% | 5% | C− |
| 3,566 | Lenwood CA | 3,383 | $79K | 15.2% | 8.6% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,221 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Paulding, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
The towns next door employ 10% of Paulding
The biggest share goes to Paulding Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Paulding workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paulding | – | C− | B− | 20 min | $53,750 |
| Paulding Township | 6% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Jackson Township | 4% | C | D | 23 min | $59,167 |
| Emerald Township | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Paulding Township: not graded. Emerald Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Paulding’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 Paulding: questions
What is the median household income in Paulding?
$53,750 (±$14,157) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Paulding?
11.9%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Paulding?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Paulding work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Defiance (8%, 15 mi), Paulding Township (6%, 3 mi), Fort Wayne (5%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Paulding walkable?
Paulding is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Paulding without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Paulding, from the people who make the trip.
More of Paulding
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.