Photo: Nyttend · Public domainPolk has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
20 jobs are based in Polk for 109 working residents. Hardly any stay in Polk for work; outside it, Ashland is the main destination (20%, 8 miles). For 5% of workers, the job is at home; Ohio has 13%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
In and out of Polk on a workday
On a workday 108 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 19 people come in from elsewhere.
About 220 people are in Polk on a workday afternoon, 29% 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Polk ends
Where Polk clocks in
20% of workers
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.
The kinds of work in Polk
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Polk, 2013 → 2023: 19 → 20. 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 Polk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Polk’s commute takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Polk workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 161 commuters (the 5% 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 far Polk goes to work
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.
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 Polk: questions
What is the median household income in Polk?
$68,125 (±$20,022) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Polk?
20.8%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Polk?
29 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Polk work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ashland (20%, 8 mi), Medina (6%, 22 mi), Wooster (5%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Polk without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Polk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Polk
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.