Work & commute · Lima

Work & commute in Lima, IN

Most working residents leave Lima for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Lagrange (10%), Fort Wayne (5%) and Clay (4%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

59 of 872 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 813 Lima residents head out of town to work, 59 work right here, and 1,050 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lima.

813live here, work elsewhere

59live and work here

1,050work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lima goes to work

Lagrange6.2 mi away

10%88

Fort Wayne47.3 mi away

5%44

Lima (in town)right here

5%43

Clay5.7 mi away

4%39

Shipshewana8.4 mi away

4%38

Bloomfield6.5 mi away

4%37

Newbury10.1 mi away

4%36

Middlebury14.8 mi away

4%35

Elkhart27.3 mi away

4%35

Sturgis, MI4.3 mi away

3%30

Everywhere elseother towns and states

51%447

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

How far

How far Lima commutes

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

38%

32%

16%

14%

38%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lima is balanced between jobs and homes

1.27jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Lima are

1,109 jobs are based in Lima. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lima’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lima

1,109 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)83%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)11%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Lima residents hold

872 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)44%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)39%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+46%

Jobs based in Lima, 2013 → 2023: 758 → 1,109. 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.