Work & commute · Fort Wayne

Work & commute in Fort Wayne, IN

60% of Fort Wayne’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are New Haven (3%), Aboite (2%) and Lafayette (2%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

60%

70,041 of 116,836 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 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 46,795 Fort Wayne residents head out of town to work, 70,041 work right here, and 82,812 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fort Wayne.

46,795live here, work elsewhere

70,041live and work here

82,812work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fort Wayne goes to work

Fort Wayne (in town)right here

60%70,041

New Haven6.7 mi away

3%3,573

Aboite7.8 mi away

2%2,856

Lafayette11.4 mi away

2%2,644

Union13.5 mi away

1%1,283

Center104.7 mi away

1%1,171

Auburn19.8 mi away

1%992

Perry9.3 mi away

1%929

Pleasant9 mi away

1%908

Washington98.9 mi away

1%793

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%31,646

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

How far

How far Fort Wayne commutes

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

66%

13%

16%

66%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fort Wayne is balanced between jobs and homes

1.31jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Fort Wayne are

152,853 jobs are based in Fort Wayne. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fort Wayne’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Fort Wayne

152,853 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Fort Wayne residents hold

116,836 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month54%

+13%

Jobs based in Fort Wayne, 2013 → 2023: 135,128 → 152,853. 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.