Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWith 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Polk Township works elsewhere
Employers in Polk Township report 316 jobs, and 852 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Polk Township is better than 66% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (C). The average commute, 23 minutes each way, matches the Ohio norm.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Polk Township and work: the main findings
Jobs & income in Polk Township: the grade in detail
The poverty rate holds Polk Township’s grade up (4.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.2%) is left out: Polk Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Polk Township could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
20% of working residents work in Galion
Where Polk Township clocks in
11% of workers
10% 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.
Who leaves Polk Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 842 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 306 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Polk Township on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
In Polk Township, 32% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Polk Township, 2014 → 2024: 326 → 316. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Polk Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Polk Township: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Polk Township workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 856 commuters (the 7% 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.
Half of Polk Township commutes less than 16 miles
About 23% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Polk Township is mostly behind the wheel
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 922 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). 3.9% of Polk Township households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Polk Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Polk Township ranks: 1,391st of 5,509 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | New California OH | 1,672 | $162K | 0.0% | 1.1% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Jersey Township OH | 2,678 | $136K | 2.4% | 1.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Silver Lake OH | 2,504 | $140K | 2.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,389 | Charleston Township MI | 1,895 | $82K | 8.6% | 7.3% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,390 | Hopewell Township OH | 1,435 | $96K | 7.7% | 7.2% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,391 | Polk Township OH | 1,965 | $77K | 4.5% | 1.2% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,392 | Perry Township PA | 2,045 | $65K | 3.3% | 1.2% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,393 | Churubusco IN | 1,853 | $65K | 9.2% | 1.8% | 11% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Polk Township, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
20% of Polk Township works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Polk Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polk Township | – | B+ | C | 23 min | $76,518 |
| Galion | 20% | C− | B | 27 min | $52,176 |
| Washington Township | under 2% | B+ | D− | 45 min | $105,099 |
| Whetstone Township | under 2% | B− | D− | 15 min | $66,758 |
| Jackson Township | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Jefferson Township | under 2% | B | C | 26 min | $81,094 |
| Sandusky Township | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Jackson Township and Sandusky Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Galion. Darker towns draw more of Polk 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 2024, 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 Polk Township: questions
What is the median household income in Polk Township?
$76,518 (±$15,588) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Polk Township?
4.5%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Polk Township?
23 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Polk Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Galion (20%, 2 mi), Columbus (11%, 53 mi), Mansfield (10%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Polk Township walkable?
Polk Township is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Polk Township 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 Polk Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Polk Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.