Photo: Nyttend · Public domainSt. Marys has lower unemployment (1.8%) than 87% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn St. Marys B+; getting around on foot earns it B−. Home is the office for 2% of workers, next to 13% for Ohio as a whole. About one in four work in St. Marys; the top destination outside it is New Bremen (8%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
St. Marys and work: the main findings
St. Marys trades workers with the towns around it
St. Marys has about as many jobs (4,769) as working residents (4,097), but they are mostly different people: 3,119 residents leave for work each day while 3,791 people come in. Only 21% of the jobs in St. Marys are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from St. Marys are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 23 across Ohio. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Ohio worker. Time on the road ↓
Few St. Marys 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 ↓
St. Marys makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in St. Marys are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs St. Marys residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 41%. 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.
Why St. Marys gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Marys is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #329 of 992 in Ohio. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Marys could be anywhere from B to A.
St. Marys by day and by night
On a workday 3,119 residents head out to work, 978 work right here, and 3,791 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 (1.16 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.
Getting to work from St. Marys takes about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Marys workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,264 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.
In St. Marys, 37% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
4,769 jobs are based in St. Marys.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Marys, 2013 → 2023: 4,712 → 4,769. 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 St. Marys’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting out of St. Marys: the destinations
Where St. Marys clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
How far St. Marys’ workers travel
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.
In St. Marys, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Marys is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns, #391 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 4,356 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). 3.8% of St. Marys households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of St. Marys’ commuters take a bus or train.
St. Marys places 985th of 2,947 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Jerome Township OH | 11,237 | $176K | 0.4% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Madeira OH | 9,637 | $168K | 2.5% | 1.2% | 5% | A+ |
| 26 | The Village of Indian Hill OH | 6,114 | $235K | 3.1% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 983 | Garrison MD | 9,469 | $102K | 8.0% | 5.3% | 2% | B+ |
| 984 | Braidwood IL | 6,259 | $82K | 7.3% | 2.5% | 5% | B+ |
| 985 | St. Marys OH | 8,398 | $80K | 6.6% | 1.8% | 24% | B+ |
| 986 | Shrewsbury MO | 6,231 | $81K | 10.0% | 3.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 987 | Castle Shannon PA | 8,006 | $64K | 10.5% | 0.4% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,947 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 St. Marys, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
How St. Marys compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Marys workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Marys | – | B+ | B− | 16 min | $79,516 |
| St. Marys Township | 2% | B+ | B− | 16 min | $75,000 |
| Noble Township | under 2% | A− | B− | 18 min | $97,083 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to St. Marys Township. Darker towns draw more of St. Marys’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 St. Marys: questions
What is the median household income in St. Marys?
$79,516 (±$10,436) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Marys?
6.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Marys?
16 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Marys work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Bremen (8%, 8 mi), Celina (7%, 9 mi), Wapakoneta (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Marys walkable?
St. Marys is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Marys 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 St. Marys, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Marys
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.