Work & commute · Elkhart

Work & commute in Elkhart, IN

Most working residents leave Elkhart for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Fort Wayne (9%), Ligonier (8%) and Goshen (6%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

20 of 851 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 831 Elkhart residents head out of town to work, 20 work right here, and 486 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Elkhart.

831live here, work elsewhere

20live and work here

486work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Elkhart goes to work

Fort Wayne32.7 mi away

9%73

Ligonier6.3 mi away

8%68

Goshen19.1 mi away

6%52

Topeka5 mi away

5%46

Albion7.1 mi away

5%46

Sparta8.7 mi away

5%42

Elkhart28.7 mi away

5%40

Kendallville11.9 mi away

4%30

Middlebury17.3 mi away

3%24

Perry6.1 mi away

3%24

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%406

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

How far

How far Elkhart commutes

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

36%

35%

19%

10%

36%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Elkhart is a commuter town

0.59jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.59 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Elkhart are

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

Jobs based in Elkhart

506 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)85%

Trade, transport & utilities6%

Services (health, schools, offices…)8%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month16%

Over $3,333 a month74%

Jobs Elkhart residents hold

851 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)46%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)39%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−26%

Jobs based in Elkhart, 2013 → 2023: 685 → 506. 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.