Photo: Art Anderson · CC BY-SA 3.0Van Wert has 1.4 jobs for every working resident: 5,366 people commute in to work
Jobs & income C: better than 32% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #800 of 992 in Ohio.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns · #153 of 993 in Ohio.
Household incomes here are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 16 minutes each way (Ohio 23, U.S. 26). About two in five work in Van Wert; the top destination outside it is Fort Wayne (4%, 33 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Van Wert
Commutes from Van Wert 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 Van Wert workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 13% across Ohio. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
What’s behind Van Wert’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Van Wert is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #800 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Van Wert’s grade up (ahead of 50% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($55,113, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Van Wert could be anywhere from C− to B−.
About 16 minutes each way, quicker than most of Ohio
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Van Wert workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,073 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Van Wert fills up on a workday
On a workday 3,226 residents head out to work, 2,073 work right here, and 5,366 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Van Wert on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.40 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 Van Wert goes to work
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Van Wert clocks in
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Van Wert makes things: 32% of its jobs are in goods
7,439 jobs are based in Van Wert. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Van Wert’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Van Wert, 2013 → 2023: 6,809 → 7,439. 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.
Half of Van Wert commutes less than 13 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 19% 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.
Most trips from Van Wert start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Van Wert is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #153 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% 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 5,221 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). 5.5% of Van Wert households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Van Wert’s commuters take a bus or train.
Van Wert is 1,913th of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Van Wert, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
| # | 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| 4 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 5 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Jerome Township OH | 11,237 | $176K | 0.4% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,911 | Hanover Township PA | 11,781 | $61K | 19.0% | 5.1% | 15% | C |
| 1,912 | Piney Green NC | 14,078 | $72K | 10.8% | 5.9% | 3% | C |
| 1,913 | Van Wert OH | 11,200 | $55K | 14.2% | 4.2% | 39% | C |
| 1,914 | Chemung Township IL | 9,102 | $68K | 13.7% | 7.3% | 13% | C |
| 1,915 | Lansing Township MI | 8,060 | $48K | 19.1% | 5.0% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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.
Van Wert and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Ridge Township (2%). Darker towns draw more of Van Wert’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Van Wert workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van Wert | – | C | B+ | 16 min | $55,113 |
| Pleasant Township | under 2% | C | A− | 17 min | $61,292 |
| Ridge Township | 2% | B+ | B− | 18 min | $75,978 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Van Wert: questions
What is the median household income in Van Wert?
$55,113 (±$2,831) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Van Wert?
14.2%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Van Wert?
16 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Van Wert work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Wayne (4%, 33 mi), Hoaglin Township (4%, 6 mi), Lima (2%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Van Wert walkable?
Van Wert is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Van Wert without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Van Wert, from the people who make the trip.
More of Van Wert
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.