Work & commute · Plain

Work & commute in Plain, OH

Most working residents leave Plain for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Wooster (32%), Wooster (4%) and Ashland (4%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

90 of 1,454 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,364 Plain residents head out of town to work, 90 work right here, and 738 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Plain.

1,364live here, work elsewhere

90live and work here

738work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Plain goes to work

Wooster6.7 mi away

32%468

Plain (in town)right here

6%90

Wooster5 mi away

4%65

Ashland15.5 mi away

4%59

Orrville14.9 mi away

3%47

Akron34.5 mi away

3%43

Chester5.4 mi away

2%29

Columbus73.7 mi away

2%23

Cleveland52.2 mi away

1%21

East Union12 mi away

1%20

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%589

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.

44%

26%

18%

13%

44%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Plain is a commuter town

0.57jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.57 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Plain are

828 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

828 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)59%

Trade, transport & utilities34%

Services (health, schools, offices…)7%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month71%

Jobs Plain residents hold

1,454 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)30%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+26%

Jobs based in Plain, 2013 → 2023: 658 → 828. 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.