Photo: Nheyob · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Somerset are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 17.6% of residents, next to 13.3% for Ohio as a whole. For jobs and income Somerset is better than 18% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (B). Only 4% work in Somerset; the top destination outside it is Lancaster (11%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Somerset
The better-paid jobs are outside Somerset
60% of Somerset residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 28% of the jobs based in Somerset pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Somerset pay little
35% of the jobs based in Somerset pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 31% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Somerset has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Somerset went from 327 in 2013 to 452 in 2023, +38%. 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; with 505 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Somerset’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Job access by car holds Somerset’s grade up (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($55,208, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (5.2%) is left out: Somerset’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, Somerset could be anywhere from D to C+.
The kinds of work in Somerset
452 jobs are based in Somerset.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Somerset, 2013 → 2023: 327 → 452. 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 Somerset’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Somerset
On a workday 483 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 430 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 (0.90 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.
Where the trip to work from Somerset ends
Where Somerset clocks in
11% of workers
9% 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.
Each way, about 29 minutes from Somerset
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Somerset workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 362 commuters (the 19% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Somerset
About 17% 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.
Most of Somerset commutes by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.7% across Ohio, on an EPA index of 6.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 449 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). 14.0% of Somerset households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Somerset’s commuters take a bus or train.
Somerset is 4,514th of 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | New California OH | 1,672 | $162K | 0.0% | 1.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Millcreek Township OH | 1,562 | $151K | 2.3% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Bratenahl OH | 1,396 | $138K | 4.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,512 | Belcourt ND | 1,547 | $91K | 27.7% | 0.0% | 48% | C− |
| 4,513 | Lincoln MO | 1,197 | $63K | 12.8% | 1.8% | 12% | C− |
| 4,514 | Somerset OH | 1,482 | $55K | 17.6% | 5.2% | 4% | C− |
| 4,515 | Gregory TX | 1,708 | $47K | 39.2% | 5.2% | 3% | C− |
| 4,516 | Clinton Township IN | 1,292 | $48K | 8.8% | 7.4% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Somerset, 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 Somerset: questions
What is the median household income in Somerset?
$55,208 (±$16,640) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Somerset?
17.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Somerset?
29 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Somerset work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lancaster (11%, 17 mi), Columbus (9%, 38 mi), New Lexington (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Somerset walkable?
Somerset is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Somerset without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Somerset, from the people who make the trip.
More of Somerset
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.