Work & commute · Plain

Work & commute in Plain, IN

Most working residents leave Plain for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Warsaw (35%), Goshen (6%) and Elkhart (4%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

521 of 3,889 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 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 3,368 Plain residents head out of town to work, 521 work right here, and 6,091 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Plain.

3,368live here, work elsewhere

521live and work here

6,091work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Plain goes to work

Warsaw4.4 mi away

35%1,372

Goshen18.3 mi away

6%214

Elkhart27.3 mi away

4%152

Nappanee12.7 mi away

3%117

Plain (in town)right here

3%116

Fort Wayne39.1 mi away

3%112

Syracuse8.9 mi away

3%102

Wayne6.2 mi away

2%82

South Bend33.9 mi away

2%61

Winona Lake6.5 mi away

2%59

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%1,502

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

How far

How far Plain commutes

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

52%

21%

16%

10%

52%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Plain is a job hub

1.70jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Plain are

6,612 jobs are based in Plain. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Plain’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Plain

6,612 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)60%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)17%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Plain residents hold

3,889 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)46%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)40%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+21%

Jobs based in Plain, 2013 → 2023: 5,458 → 6,612. 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.