Photo: Nyttend · Public domainWest Unity has lower household incomes than 63% of U.S. towns
The two grades for West Unity are C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. 12.6% of residents live below the poverty line, where Ohio as a whole has 13.3%. 2% of workers work from home, next to 13% for Ohio as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in West Unity
West Unity makes and builds things
67% of the jobs based in West Unity are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs West Unity residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 40%. The jobs ↓
West Unity and Bryan trade workers both ways
Bryan is the top workplace for West Unity residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in West Unity come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few West Unity 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 ↓
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 843 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How West Unity earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, West Unity is better than 32% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides West Unity’s grade.
Unemployment (8.2%) is left out: West Unity’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, West Unity could be anywhere from C− to B−.
West Unity works in goods: 67% of its jobs
955 jobs are based in West Unity.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Unity, 2013 → 2023: 871 → 955. 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 West Unity’s own residents hold wherever they work.
17% of working residents work in Bryan
Where West Unity clocks in
17% of workers
8% 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.
Commuting from West Unity: about 20 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Unity workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 786 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.
Who works in West Unity, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 796 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 908 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 (1.13 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.
Short hops and long hauls from West Unity
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.
West Unity is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, West Unity is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.7% across Ohio, on an EPA index of 5.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 802 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). 6.0% of West Unity households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of West Unity’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300, West Unity comes 3,269th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | New California OH | 1,672 | $162K | 0.0% | 1.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Millcreek Township OH | 1,562 | $151K | 2.3% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Bratenahl OH | 1,396 | $138K | 4.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,267 | New Shoreham RI | 1,408 | $83K | 9.4% | 9.9% | 62% | C |
| 3,268 | Chapman KS | 1,380 | $72K | 11.2% | 4.2% | 7% | C |
| 3,269 | West Unity OH | 1,735 | $67K | 12.6% | 8.2% | 6% | C |
| 3,270 | Jones Creek TX | 1,952 | $73K | 15.6% | 7.1% | 1% | C |
| 3,271 | Tatum TX | 1,403 | $77K | 18.2% | 5.9% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 West Unity, 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 West Unity: questions
What is the median household income in West Unity?
$66,759 (±$9,939) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Unity?
12.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Unity?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Unity work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bryan (17%, 10 mi), Montpelier (11%, 8 mi), Archbold (8%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is West Unity walkable?
West Unity is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around West Unity without a car?
1% 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 West Unity, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Unity
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.