Every workday, about 4,900 people come to Washington for work
Most working residents leave Washington for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Valparaiso (26%), Portage (5%) and Chesterton (4%). Half commute less than 14 miles.
What kind of work town is Washington?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
Washington makes things: 45% of its jobs are in goods
5,101 jobs are based in Washington. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Washington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Washington, 2013 → 2023: 4,378 → 5,101. 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.
Washington fills up on a workday
On a workday 2,279 residents head out to work, 224 work right here, and 4,877 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,400 people are in Washington on a workday afternoon, 44% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Washington’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Washington clocks in
26% of workers
5% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 34 minutes each way, longer than most of Indiana
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Washington workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Half of Washington commutes less than 14 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Washington and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Washington’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
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 Washington
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Washington, 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.