Photo: Nyttend · Public domainReading has lower household incomes than 71% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Reading B−; getting around on foot earns it A−. Below the poverty line: 12.0% of residents; Ohio has 13.3%. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 15.3 in Cincinnati.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Reading apart
Reading trades workers with the towns around it
Reading has about as many jobs (4,521) as working residents (5,330), but they are mostly different people: 5,068 residents leave for work each day while 4,259 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Reading are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Reading makes and builds things
57% of the jobs based in Reading are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Reading residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 17%. The jobs ↓
Most Reading residents work close to home
71% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
A lot of Reading works one town over
31% of working residents work in a town that borders Reading: Cincinnati (22%), Blue Ash (7%) and Evendale (2%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Reading are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 23 across Ohio. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Ohio worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Reading
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Reading is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #608 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Reading’s grade up (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($61,866, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Reading could be anywhere from C to A−.
The workday shuffle in and out of Reading
On a workday 5,068 residents head out to work, 262 work right here, and 4,259 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.85 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Reading works in goods: 57% of its jobs
4,521 jobs are based in Reading.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Reading, 2013 → 2023: 5,183 → 4,521. 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.
The distance from Reading to work
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.
Time on the road from Reading: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Reading workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,539 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
22% of working residents work in Cincinnati
Where Reading clocks in
22% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
Reading is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Reading is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #122 of 993 in Ohio. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.7% across Ohio.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,636 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 64% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 21% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.0% of Reading households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Reading’s commuters take a bus or train.
Reading next to U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000: 1,679th of 2,878 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| 4 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 5 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Jerome Township OH | 11,237 | $176K | 0.4% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,677 | Bithlo FL | 10,486 | $92K | 26.0% | 3.7% | 2% | B− |
| 1,678 | Rhinebeck NY | 7,658 | $93K | 7.8% | 6.5% | 19% | B− |
| 1,679 | Reading OH | 10,491 | $62K | 12.0% | 4.6% | 5% | B− |
| 1,680 | Springdale OH | 11,134 | $68K | 12.0% | 5.3% | 6% | B− |
| 1,681 | Ellwood City PA | 7,362 | $67K | 9.5% | 4.3% | 12% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Ohio.
Reading and its neighbors: 31% work next door
The biggest share goes to Cincinnati (22%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Reading workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | – | B− | A− | 18 min | $61,866 |
| Evendale | 2% | A+ | B− | 20 min | $148,500 |
| Amberley | under 2% | A | B | 20 min | $154,688 |
| Lockland | under 2% | C+ | A | 19 min | $57,969 |
| Arlington Heights | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Sycamore Township | under 2% | B | B | 21 min | $83,222 |
| Blue Ash | 7% | A+ | B | 20 min | $115,313 |
| Dillonvale | under 2% | A | B− | 18 min | $79,318 |
| Cincinnati | 22% | C− | A+ | 22 min | $52,909 |
Same-state neighbors only. Arlington Heights: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$61,866 (±$4,742) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Reading?
12.0%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Reading?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Reading work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cincinnati (22%, 7 mi), Blue Ash (7%, 3 mi), West Chester Township (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Reading walkable?
Reading is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Reading without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 21% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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.