Work & commute · West Lafayette

Work & commute in West Lafayette, OH

Most working residents leave West Lafayette for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Coshocton (18%), Columbus (6%) and Tuscarawas (5%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

81 of 936 working residents

Typical commute

17 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 855 West Lafayette residents head out of town to work, 81 work right here, and 397 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in West Lafayette.

855live here, work elsewhere

81live and work here

397work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where West Lafayette goes to work

Coshocton5.1 mi away

18%165

West Lafayette (in town)right here

9%81

Columbus68.2 mi away

6%57

Tuscarawas4 mi away

5%50

Newcomerstown8.2 mi away

4%33

Zanesville26 mi away

3%31

Oxford5.3 mi away

3%30

Franklin8 mi away

2%23

Sugarcreek17.1 mi away

2%22

New Philadelphia21.9 mi away

2%20

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%424

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

How far

How far West Lafayette commutes

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

46%

18%

11%

24%

46%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

West Lafayette is a commuter town

0.51jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in West Lafayette are

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

Jobs based in West Lafayette

478 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs West Lafayette residents hold

936 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month56%

−17%

Jobs based in West Lafayette, 2013 → 2023: 579 → 478. 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.