Photo: Montgomery County Planning Commission on Flickr · CC BY-SA 2.0Ambler has 0.9 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income A−: better than 82% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #281 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania.
Walkability A+: more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns · #66 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania.
Household incomes here are higher than in 53% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 22 minutes each way (Pennsylvania 26, U.S. 26). Only 5% work in Ambler; the top destination outside it is Philadelphia (20%, 11 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.4 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 37.7 in Philadelphia (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Ambler, in brief
Ambler trades workers with the towns around it
Ambler has about as many jobs (2,899) as working residents (3,294), but they are mostly different people: 3,113 residents leave for work each day while 2,718 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Ambler are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Ambler and Philadelphia trade workers both ways
Philadelphia is the top workplace for Ambler residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Ambler come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The quickest commute around
Ambler’s 22-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 25 to 31 minutes. Next door ↓
A lot of Ambler works from home
24% of Ambler workers work from home, against 16% across Pennsylvania. 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.
What’s behind Ambler’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ambler is better than 82% of U.S. towns, #281 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($77,394, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ambler could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 3,113 residents head out to work, 181 work right here, and 2,718 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 (0.88 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.
20% of working residents work in Philadelphia
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Ambler clocks in
20% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 22 minutes each way, quicker than most of Pennsylvania
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ambler workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,627 commuters (the 24% who work from home are left out). Across Pennsylvania: 81% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
65% of the jobs in Ambler pay over $3,333 a month
2,899 jobs are based in Ambler. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ambler’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ambler, 2013 → 2023: 2,246 → 2,899. 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.
Half of Ambler commutes less than 10 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Ambler 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, Ambler is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns, #66 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Ambler near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,452 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 38% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% 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). 5.8% of Ambler households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Ambler’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ambler is 722nd of 3,168 U.S. towns of 4,800 to 9,200 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Ambler, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | West Vincent Township PA | 6,885 | $203K | 1.4% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Upper Nazareth Township PA | 8,521 | $122K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | London Grove Township PA | 9,047 | $176K | 1.8% | 0.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 720 | Adairsville GA | 5,101 | $103K | 6.1% | 2.0% | 7% | A− |
| 721 | Savoy IL | 9,113 | $92K | 7.9% | 1.4% | 3% | A− |
| 722 | Ambler PA | 6,840 | $77K | 6.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A− |
| 723 | Sunnyvale TX | 9,008 | $170K | 6.0% | 7.0% | 5% | A− |
| 724 | Exeter RI | 6,540 | $111K | 12.8% | 1.0% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,168 | 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.
11% of Ambler works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Upper Dublin Township (4%). Darker towns draw more of Ambler’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ambler workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambler | – | A− | A+ | 22 min | $77,394 |
| Upper Dublin Township | 4% | A+ | A | 28 min | $168,010 |
| Fort Washington | under 3% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Lower Gwynedd Township | 3% | A+ | A | 28 min | $139,615 |
| Whitpain Township | 4% | A | A | 31 min | $162,856 |
Same-state neighbors only. Fort Washington: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Ambler: questions
What is the median household income in Ambler?
$77,394 (±$23,678) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ambler?
6.0%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ambler?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ambler work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Philadelphia (20%, 11 mi), Upper Dublin Township (4%, 2 mi), Whitpain Township (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ambler walkable?
Ambler is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.0 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ambler without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 38% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ambler, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ambler
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.