Work & commute · Center

Work & commute in Center, IN

Most working residents leave Center for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are Crown Point (20%), Merrillville (8%) and Chicago (7%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

3,622 of 19,170 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 15,548 Center residents head out of town to work, 3,622 work right here, and 12,637 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Center.

15,548live here, work elsewhere

3,622live and work here

12,637work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Center goes to work

Crown Point1.5 mi away

20%3,779

Merrillville6 mi away

8%1,511

Chicago, IL34.8 mi away

7%1,391

Gary13.7 mi away

4%721

Hammond17 mi away

4%714

Munster12.8 mi away

3%660

Hobart9.5 mi away

3%571

Schererville7.5 mi away

3%552

East Chicago18.2 mi away

2%455

Valparaiso17.3 mi away

2%448

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%8,368

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Center commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

41%

31%

15%

13%

41%Under 10 mi

31%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Center is balanced between jobs and homes

0.85jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.85 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Center are

16,259 jobs are based in Center. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Center

16,259 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Center residents hold

19,170 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+43%

Jobs based in Center, 2013 → 2023: 11,392 → 16,259. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.