Pioneer has lower household incomes than 93% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Pioneer are D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. 21.8% of residents are in poverty; Ohio has 13.3%. 2% of workers work from home (Ohio 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Pioneer apart on work
Pioneer makes and builds things
62% of the jobs based in Pioneer are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Pioneer residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 38%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Pioneer are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 23 across Ohio. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Ohio worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Pioneer workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 13% across Ohio. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 679 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Pioneer
On income, poverty and job access, Pioneer is better than 7% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Pioneer’s grade up (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($44,671, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (5.1%) is left out: Pioneer’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, Pioneer could be anywhere from D− to C.
Goods, not services: 62% of the jobs in Pioneer
774 jobs are based in Pioneer.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pioneer, 2013 → 2023: 672 → 774. 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 Pioneer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 17 minutes from Pioneer
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pioneer workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 417 commuters (the 2% 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 many people are in Pioneer by day
On a workday 608 residents head out to work, 71 work right here, and 703 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.
13% of working residents work in Bryan
Where Pioneer clocks in
13% of workers
7% 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.
Pioneer’s commute, mile by mile
About 18% 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.
The commute in Pioneer is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pioneer is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.7% across Ohio, on an EPA index of 5.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 426 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). 3.6% of Pioneer households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pioneer’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Pioneer ranks: 5,135th of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | New California OH | 1,672 | $162K | 0.0% | 1.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Millcreek Township OH | 1,562 | $151K | 2.3% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Bratenahl OH | 1,396 | $138K | 4.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,133 | Lapwai ID | 1,251 | $57K | 19.4% | 3.4% | 29% | D |
| 5,134 | Girard IL | 1,768 | $50K | 31.0% | 2.4% | 8% | D |
| 5,135 | Pioneer OH | 1,419 | $45K | 21.8% | 5.1% | 10% | D |
| 5,136 | Onancock VA | 1,177 | $55K | 21.4% | 3.0% | 3% | D |
| 5,137 | Wright WY | 1,659 | $70K | 27.3% | 2.3% | 12% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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 Pioneer, 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 Pioneer: questions
What is the median household income in Pioneer?
$44,671 (±$12,397) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pioneer?
21.8%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pioneer?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pioneer work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bryan (13%, 14 mi), Montpelier (9%, 7 mi), Holiday City (7%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pioneer walkable?
Pioneer is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pioneer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pioneer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pioneer
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.