Photo: United States Air Force · Public domainWright-Patterson AFB draws 2,994 commuters a day, with 9.6 jobs for every working resident
For jobs and income Wright-Patterson AFB is better than 80% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (A). Wright-Patterson AFB has 3,002 jobs; 313 of its residents have a job. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 9.5 in Dayton.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Wright-Patterson AFB in brief
Wright-Patterson AFB fills up on a workday
Wright-Patterson AFB has 3,002 jobs, 9.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,200 people are in town, more than double the 1,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
The jobs in Wright-Patterson AFB pay better than its residents’ jobs
84% of the jobs based in Wright-Patterson AFB pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 55% of the jobs Wright-Patterson AFB residents hold. 100% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Wright-Patterson AFB. The jobs ↓
Wright-Patterson AFB has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Wright-Patterson AFB went from 1,855 in 2013 to 3,002 in 2023, +62%. 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 313 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Wright-Patterson AFB
The poverty rate holds Wright-Patterson AFB’s grade up (4.7%, U.S. 11.9%); family income pulls it down ($89,808, U.S. $99,999). It also does well on job access by car.
15% of Wright-Patterson AFB’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (17% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 4.7%, against 7.0% for all residents. Unemployment (10.8%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($89,808), since student households pull the household median down ($89,615).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Wright-Patterson AFB could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
Wright-Patterson AFB by day and by night
On a workday 305 residents head out to work and 8 work right here.
About 4,200 people are in Wright-Patterson AFB on a workday afternoon, 178% more 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.
Wright-Patterson AFB is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wright-Patterson AFB, 2013 → 2023: 1,855 → 3,002. 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 Wright-Patterson AFB’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that send workers to Wright-Patterson AFB
Where Wright-Patterson AFB clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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.
About 13 minutes to work from Wright-Patterson AFB
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wright-Patterson AFB workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 819 commuters (the 9% 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 it is to work from Wright-Patterson AFB
About 30% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Wright-Patterson AFB
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 14.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.7% across Ohio, on an EPA index of 9.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 900 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 40% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Wright-Patterson AFB households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 10% of Wright-Patterson AFB’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wright-Patterson AFB next to U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,000: 572nd of 5,397 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Bratenahl OH | 1,396 | $138K | 4.4% | 0.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 570 | Mitchell WI | 1,293 | $97K | 2.7% | 7.2% | 4% | A− |
| 571 | Johnson Township IN | 1,244 | $114K | 1.5% | 2.3% | <1% | A− |
| 572 | Wright-Patterson AFB OH | 1,508 | $90K | 7.0% | 10.8% | 3% | A− |
| 573 | Virgil Township IL | 1,924 | $114K | 9.7% | 2.0% | 1% | A− |
| 574 | Orange Township PA | 1,184 | $97K | 3.3% | 1.6% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,397 | 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 Wright-Patterson AFB, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
14% of Wright-Patterson AFB works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Beavercreek (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wright-Patterson AFB workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wright-Patterson AFB | – | A− | A | 13 min | $89,615 |
| Fairborn | 4% | B− | B+ | 21 min | $61,751 |
| Beavercreek | 8% | A− | C+ | 20 min | $110,088 |
| Riverside | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 21 min | $61,352 |
| Beavercreek Township | under 2% | A | C+ | 21 min | $116,743 |
| Huber Heights | 2% | B+ | B+ | 23 min | $79,131 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wright-Patterson AFB’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.
- Students. 15% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Wright-Patterson AFB: questions
What is the median household income in Wright-Patterson AFB?
$89,615 (±$26,315) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wright-Patterson AFB?
7.0% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 4.7%. Ohio: 13.3%.
How long is the commute from Wright-Patterson AFB?
13 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wright-Patterson AFB work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dayton (9%, 8 mi), Beavercreek (8%, 6 mi), Columbus (8%, 57 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wright-Patterson AFB walkable?
Wright-Patterson AFB is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wright-Patterson AFB without a car?
10% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wright-Patterson AFB, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wright-Patterson AFB
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.