Every workday, about 20,000 people come to Penn Township for work, and 26,000 head out
About one in 5 of Penn Township’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are South Bend (21%), Mishawaka (21%) and Elkhart (13%). Half commute less than 7 miles.
Work and commuting in Penn Township, in brief
Much of Penn Township works one town over
46% of working residents work in a town that borders Penn Township: Mishawaka (21%), South Bend (21%) and Clay Township (2%). Next door ↓
Most Penn Township residents work close to home
62% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
46% of Penn Township works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Mishawaka (21%). Darker towns draw more of Penn Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Half of Penn Township commutes less than 7 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 15% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 26,258 residents head out to work, 6,609 work right here, and 19,864 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
21% of working residents work in South Bend
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Penn Township clocks in
21% of workers
21% of workers
13% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 26,473 jobs in Penn Township are
26,473 jobs are based in Penn Township. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Penn Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Penn Township, 2013 → 2023: 24,107 → 26,473. 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.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Indiana
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Penn Township workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
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.
More of Penn Township
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Penn Township, from the people who make the trip.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.