Photo: Sixflashphoto · CC BY-SA 4.0Plain Township ranks among the highest-earning U.S. towns by household income
The poverty rate is 2.1%, against 13.3% across Ohio. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Plain Township grades A+ for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Plain Township, in a few figures
Much of Plain Township works one town over
58% of working residents work in a town that borders Plain Township: Columbus (47%) and New Albany (11%). Next door ↓
Plain Township is where the jobs are
Plain Township has 16,365 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 24,000 people are in town, 79% more than the 13,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Plain Township
27% of Plain Township workers work from home, against 13% across Ohio. Time on the road ↓
Plain Township has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Plain Township went from 11,017 in 2013 to 16,365 in 2023, +49%. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Plain Township is services
86% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 5% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind Plain Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Plain Township is among the top U.S. towns, #1 of 992 in Ohio. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Plain Township’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Plain Township stays A+.
Plain Township nearly doubles on a workday
On a workday 5,337 residents head out to work, 584 work right here, and 15,781 people come in from elsewhere.
About 24,000 people are in Plain Township on a workday afternoon, 79% more than live here.
2.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
The trip to work from Plain Township: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plain Township workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,629 commuters (the 26% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Plain Township
16,365 jobs are based in Plain Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plain Township, 2013 → 2023: 11,017 → 16,365. 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 Plain Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Plain Township: where workers come from
Where Plain Township clocks in
47% of workers
11% of workers
4% 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.
The distance from Plain Township 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.
For most of Plain Township, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Plain Township is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #316 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 6,295 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.0% of Plain Township households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Plain Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Plain Township is 4th of 2,526 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 4 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 5 | Difficult Run VA | 9,938 | $250K | 1.4% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 6 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Jerome Township OH | 11,237 | $176K | 0.4% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Madeira OH | 9,637 | $168K | 2.5% | 1.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Sugarcreek Township OH | 9,912 | $186K | 3.7% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | 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 Plain Township, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Next door is work for 58% of Plain Township
The biggest share goes to Columbus (47%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Plain Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain Township | – | A+ | B | 22 min | $219,181 |
| Columbus | 47% | B− | A | 22 min | $66,082 |
| New Albany | 11% | A+ | B | 22 min | $238,250 |
| Blendon Township | under 1% | A | B+ | 22 min | $102,089 |
| Harlem Township | under 1% | A | D | 23 min | $122,311 |
| Jersey Township | under 1% | A+ | D | 34 min | $136,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Plain Township’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 Plain Township: questions
What is the median household income in Plain Township?
$219,181 (±$27,306) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plain Township?
2.1%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plain Township?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plain Township work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbus (47%, 12 mi), New Albany (11%, 2 mi), Westerville (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Plain Township walkable?
Plain Township is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plain Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Plain Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plain Township
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.