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Work & commute in Ohio · A commuter town

99% of Ohio’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Ohio for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Harrison (8%), Corydon (5%) and New Albany (5%). Half commute less than 34 miles.

Work in town
1%
3 of 241 working residents
Typical commute
34 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
52 min
More than IN (24 min)
Work from home
22%
More than IN (11%)
Jobs based here
129
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Ohio?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

8% of working residents work in Harrison

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

AltonMarengoCorydon: 12 residents work here (5%)PaoliTell CitySeymour: 5 residents work here (2%)Jasper: 8 residents work here (3%)New Albany: 11 residents work here (5%)Jeffersonville: 9 residents work here (4%)LibertyHarrison: 19 residents work here (8%)Whiskey Run: 6 residents work here (2%)UnionCenter: 7 residents work here (3%)Patoka: 5 residents work here (2%)SterlingBooneJennings: 11 residents work here (5%)OhioOilHarrisonCorydonNew AlbanyJenningsJeffersonvilleJasperOhio
1
Harrison12.5 mi away
8%19
2
Corydon14.7 mi away
5%12
3
New Albany32.3 mi away
5%11
4
Jennings5.4 mi away
5%11
5
Jeffersonville39.3 mi away
4%9
6
Jasper33.6 mi away
3%8
7
Center111.9 mi away
3%7
8
Whiskey Run12.1 mi away
2%6
9
Seymour60.2 mi away
2%5
10
Patoka18.1 mi away
2%5
Everywhere elseother towns and states
61%148
The top trips

Where Ohio clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 52 minutes each way, longer than most of Indiana

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
399 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 16.6 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Ohio52 min
Indiana24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
22%

of Ohio workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.

About 2 in 10
Day and night

Ohio quiets down on a workday

On a workday 238 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 126 people come in from elsewhere.

238live here, work elsewhere
3live and work here
126work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night820
Workday700
820live here− 240head out to work+ 130come in to work= 700on a workday

About 700 people are in Ohio on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.54jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Ohio commutes less than 34 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miHarrison: 8% · 12.5 miCorydon: 5% · 14.7 miNew Albany: 5% · 32.3 miJennings: 5% · 5.4 miJeffersonville: 4% · 39.3 miJasper: 3% · 33.6 miCenter: 3% · 111.9 miWhiskey Run: 2% · 12.1 miSeymour: 2% · 60.2 miPatoka: 2% · 18.1 miHarrison 8%Corydon 5%New Albany 5%Jennings 5%Ohio
OhioTop destinations (size = commuters)
13%Under 10 mi29 residents
25%10–24 mi54 residents
25%25–50 mi55 residents
37%Over 50 mi80 residents

About 37% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

Ohio makes things: 95% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in OhioJobs Ohio residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms95%23%
Trade, transport & utilities5%19%
Services: health, schools, offices0%58%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less2%16%
$1,251–$3,333 a month3%30%
Over $3,333 a month95%54%

Who does it

29 or younger12%25%
30 to 5457%48%
55 and older31%27%
−2%

Jobs based in Ohio, 2013 → 2023: 132 → 129. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Next door

Ohio and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Jennings (5%). Darker towns draw more of Ohio’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Ohio

Ohio home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Ohio, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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