Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Indiana is a college town: 42% of residents are students
The average commute takes 16 minutes each way, next to 26 for Pennsylvania and 26 for the U.S. For jobs and income Indiana is better than 41% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (A+). About one in seven work in Indiana; the top destination outside it is White Township (21%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Indiana apart
Commutes from Indiana are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker. Time on the road ↓
Indiana and White Township trade workers both ways
White Township is the top workplace for Indiana residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Indiana come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Indiana draws workers from far and wide
The 5,849 jobs in Indiana are filled from a wide area. Indiana’s own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Indiana’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Job access by car holds Indiana’s grade up (ahead of 56% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.6%, U.S. 11.9%). It also does well on family income.
Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (24% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 16.6%, against 21.7% for all residents. Unemployment (9.6%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($93,904), since student households pull the household median down ($40,857).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Indiana could be anywhere from C to B.
The trip to work from Indiana: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Indiana workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,581 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Pennsylvania: 81% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Out of Indiana to work: where people go
Where Indiana clocks in
6% of workers
1% 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.
Who commutes out of Indiana, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,610 residents head out to work, 736 work right here, and 5,113 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Indiana on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Indiana
5,849 jobs are based in Indiana.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Indiana, 2014 → 2024: 7,038 → 5,849. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Indiana’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Indiana to work
About 21% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Indiana, walking beats the bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,617 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). 8.1% of Indiana households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Indiana’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Indiana is 1,653rd of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Lower Moreland Township PA | 14,116 | $154K | 2.6% | 2.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Skippack Township PA | 14,502 | $148K | 2.5% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Upper Uwchlan Township PA | 13,681 | $191K | 1.6% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,651 | Union Township OH | 12,780 | $81K | 11.3% | 5.2% | 10% | C+ |
| 1,652 | Lilburn GA | 16,369 | $64K | 22.9% | 5.1% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,653 | Indiana PA | 14,697 | $41K | 21.7% | 9.6% | 17% | C+ |
| 1,654 | Wayne Township IN | 11,013 | $60K | 14.9% | 3.2% | 22% | C+ |
| 1,655 | Garfield Township MI | 19,698 | $66K | 17.4% | 3.3% | 17% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Indiana, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Indiana and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Indiana workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana | – | C+ | A+ | 16 min | $40,857 |
| Chevy Chase Heights | under 1% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Chevy Chase Heights: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Indiana’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 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Students. 42% 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 Indiana: questions
What is the median household income in Indiana?
$40,857 (±$11,418) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Indiana?
21.7% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 16.6%. Pennsylvania: 11.7%.
How long is the commute from Indiana?
16 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Indiana work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are White Township (21%, 2 mi), Pittsburgh (6%, 45 mi), Burrell Township (1%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Indiana walkable?
Indiana is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 22% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Indiana without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Indiana, from the people who make the trip.
More of Indiana
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.