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Work & commute in Decatur · A commuter town

100% of Decatur’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Decatur for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Marietta (13%), Parkersburg (10%) and Barlow (7%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Work in town
0%
1 of 505 working residents
Typical commute
18 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
36 min
More than OH (23 min)
Work from home
0%
Less than OH (13%)
Jobs based here
47
A commuter town
Work out of state
45%
mostly West Virginia

What kind of work town is Decatur?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

13% of working residents work in Marietta

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

LivoniaChesterhillBelpre: 29 residents work here (6%)Marietta: 67 residents work here (13%)Athens: 14 residents work here (3%)Columbus: 20 residents work here (4%)Vienna: 9 residents work here (2%)Parkersburg: 52 residents work here (10%)WesleyRomeBelpreWarren: 19 residents work here (4%)TroyFairfieldBarlow: 33 residents work here (7%)DecaturDunhamWaterford: 9 residents work here (2%)Marietta: 8 residents work here (2%)VincentMariettaParkersburgBarlowBelpreColumbusWarrenDecatur
1
Marietta19.2 mi away
13%67
2
Parkersburg, WV13 mi away
10%52
3
Barlow9.7 mi away
7%33
4
Belpre10.1 mi away
6%29
5
Columbus79.3 mi away
4%20
6
Warren14.4 mi away
4%19
7
Athens17.3 mi away
3%14
8
Vienna, WV13.3 mi away
2%9
9
Waterford17.9 mi away
2%9
10
Marietta21.9 mi away
2%8
Everywhere elseother towns and states
49%245
The top trips

Where Decatur 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 36 minutes each way, longer than most of Ohio

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

A year of commuting
272 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Decatur36 min
Ohio23 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
0%

of Decatur workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
Day and night

Decatur quiets down on a workday

On a workday 504 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 46 people come in from elsewhere.

504live here, work elsewhere
1live and work here
46work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,400
Workday980
1,400live here− 500head out to work+ 46come in to work= 980on a workday

About 980 people are in Decatur on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.09jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.09 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 Decatur commutes less than 18 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 miMarietta: 13% · 19.2 miParkersburg: 10% · 13 miBarlow: 7% · 9.7 miBelpre: 6% · 10.1 miColumbus: 4% · 79.3 miWarren: 4% · 14.4 miAthens: 3% · 17.3 miVienna: 2% · 13.3 miWaterford: 2% · 17.9 miMarietta: 2% · 21.9 miMarietta 13%Parkersburg 10%Barlow 7%Belpre 6%Columbus 4%Decatur
DecaturTop destinations (size = commuters)
16%Under 10 mi71 residents
53%10–24 mi232 residents
5%25–50 mi23 residents
26%Over 50 mi113 residents

About 26% 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

Decatur makes things: 89% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in DecaturJobs Decatur residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms89%24%
Trade, transport & utilities0%19%
Services: health, schools, offices11%58%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less6%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month30%28%
Over $3,333 a month64%59%

Who does it

29 or younger19%25%
30 to 5462%51%
55 and older19%24%
+52%

Jobs based in Decatur, 2013 → 2023: 31 → 47. 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

Decatur and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Decatur’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 Decatur

Decatur home →

Commuter talk

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

Town Square →
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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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