Work & commute · Ottawa

Work & commute in Ottawa, OH

About one in 4 of Ottawa’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Findlay (8%), Lima (6%) and Kalida (4%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

25%

523 of 2,055 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,532 Ottawa residents head out of town to work, 523 work right here, and 3,006 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ottawa.

1,532live here, work elsewhere

523live and work here

3,006work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ottawa goes to work

Ottawa (in town)right here

25%523

Findlay20.8 mi away

8%171

Lima19.7 mi away

6%128

Kalida8.2 mi away

4%79

Leipsic7.3 mi away

3%56

Allen21.2 mi away

3%53

Bluffton11.7 mi away

2%43

Defiance24.9 mi away

2%36

American18.8 mi away

2%36

Ottawa1.4 mi away

2%34

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%896

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

How far

How far Ottawa commutes

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

41%

33%

18%

41%Under 10 mi

33%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ottawa is a job hub

1.72jobs 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 Ottawa are

3,529 jobs are based in Ottawa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ottawa’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Ottawa

3,529 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Ottawa residents hold

2,055 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+8%

Jobs based in Ottawa, 2013 → 2023: 3,266 → 3,529. 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.