Households in Reading earn more than those in 64% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 28 minutes each way; New York averages 33, the U.S. 26. 5.6% of residents are in poverty, against 14.0% across New York. For jobs and income Reading is better than 56% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (D).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Reading
Reading makes and builds things
74% of the jobs based in Reading are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Reading residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Reading and Dix trade workers both ways
Dix is the top workplace for Reading residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Reading come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Reading pay over $40,000 a year
73% of the jobs based in Reading pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 651 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Reading gets the Jobs & income grade it does
The poverty rate holds Reading’s grade up (5.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (5.1%) is left out: Reading’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Reading could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
A place that makes things: 74% of Reading’s jobs are in goods
421 jobs are based in Reading.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Reading, 2013 → 2023: 397 → 421. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Reading’s own residents hold wherever they work.
21% of working residents work in Dix
Where Reading clocks in
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
The workday shuffle in and out of Reading
On a workday 595 residents head out to work, 56 work right here, and 365 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Reading on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.65 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.
About 28 minutes each way for Reading’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Reading workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 621 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where in the region Reading works
About 19% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Reading start in a car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 3.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 703 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.6% of Reading households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Reading’s commuters take a bus or train.
Reading next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200: 1,738th of 5,381 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,736 | Harrison Township OH | 2,053 | $69K | 5.0% | 5.3% | 5% | B |
| 1,737 | Three Way TN | 1,933 | $88K | 6.4% | 7.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,738 | Reading NY | 1,643 | $86K | 5.6% | 5.1% | 9% | B |
| 1,739 | Central Garage VA | 1,864 | $88K | 12.2% | 3.8% | 1% | B |
| 1,740 | Pulaski Township PA | 1,261 | $55K | 7.1% | 6.0% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Reading, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Work next door: 21% of Reading’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Reading workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | – | B | D | 28 min | $86,131 |
| Hector | under 3% | C | D | 27 min | $79,904 |
| Dix | 21% | D | A− | 20 min | $53,668 |
| Tyrone | under 3% | D | B− | 24 min | $72,083 |
| Starkey | under 3% | D | B | 26 min | $55,064 |
| Watkins Glen | under 3% | C− | A | 19 min | $49,632 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Dix. Darker towns draw more of Reading’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Reading: questions
What is the median household income in Reading?
$86,131 (±$9,420) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Reading?
5.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Reading?
28 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Reading work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dix (21%, 6 mi), Montour (6%, 8 mi), Corning (4%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Reading walkable?
Reading is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Reading without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Reading, from the people who make the trip.
More of Reading
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.