Work & commute · Lafayette

Work & commute in Lafayette, IN

Most working residents leave Lafayette for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are New Albany (21%), Jeffersonville (8%) and Clarksville (4%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

221 of 3,890 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,669 Lafayette residents head out of town to work, 221 work right here, and 1,905 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lafayette.

3,669live here, work elsewhere

221live and work here

1,905work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lafayette goes to work

New Albany4.5 mi away

21%799

Jeffersonville10 mi away

8%296

Clarksville6.6 mi away

4%137

Lafayette (in town)right here

3%134

Floyds Knobs1.9 mi away

2%91

Washington105.7 mi away

2%64

New Albany3.9 mi away

2%60

Jeffersontown, KY19.9 mi away

1%50

Georgetown5.7 mi away

1%42

Watterson Park, KY15.6 mi away

1%41

Everywhere elseother towns and states

56%2,176

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

How far

How far Lafayette commutes

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

57%

17%

23%

57%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lafayette is a commuter town

0.55jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lafayette are

2,126 jobs are based in Lafayette. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lafayette’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lafayette

2,126 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Lafayette residents hold

3,890 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+58%

Jobs based in Lafayette, 2013 → 2023: 1,342 → 2,126. 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.