Photo: Lee Paxton · CC BY-SA 4.0Ambridge has higher unemployment (9.4%) than 93% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 7.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 37.5 in Pittsburgh. Jobs and income earn Ambridge C−; getting around on foot earns it A+. Household incomes here are lower than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ambridge at work: what stands out
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Ambridge
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ambridge is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #917 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Ambridge’s grade up (ahead of 81% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ambridge could be anywhere from C− to C+.
What Ambridge’s employers do
1,987 jobs are based in Ambridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ambridge, 2013 → 2023: 3,048 → 1,987. 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 Ambridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Ambridge, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,563 residents head out to work, 230 work right here, and 1,757 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,100 people are in Ambridge on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.71 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.
9% of working residents work in Pittsburgh
Where Ambridge clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of Pennsylvania
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ambridge workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,971 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Pennsylvania: 81% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Ambridge
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.
In Ambridge, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ambridge is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #58 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Ambridge 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 3,369 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, 86% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% 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). 22.4% of Ambridge households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Ambridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,400, Ambridge ranks 2,556th of 3,167 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Upper Nazareth Township PA | 8,521 | $122K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | London Grove Township PA | 9,047 | $176K | 1.8% | 0.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,554 | Jennings LA | 9,235 | $49K | 19.1% | 4.0% | 29% | C− |
| 2,555 | Goshen CA | 5,136 | $73K | 24.2% | 8.0% | 6% | C− |
| 2,556 | Ambridge PA | 6,944 | $52K | 15.5% | 9.4% | 8% | C− |
| 2,557 | Hanover Township IN | 5,695 | $66K | 11.4% | 6.4% | 10% | C− |
| 2,558 | Sugar Creek Township IN | 7,177 | $56K | 14.5% | 5.5% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,167 | 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 Ambridge, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Work in the towns next to Ambridge
The biggest share goes to Leetsdale (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ambridge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambridge | – | C− | A+ | 23 min | $51,537 |
| Harmony Township | 3% | A− | B | 22 min | $70,926 |
| Ambridge Heights | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Leetsdale | 4% | B+ | A | 25 min | $66,346 |
| Leet Township | under 3% | A− | C− | 25 min | $93,083 |
| Aliquippa | under 3% | C− | A+ | 23 min | $50,188 |
| South Heights | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Ambridge Heights: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. South Heights: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ambridge’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 Ambridge: questions
What is the median household income in Ambridge?
$51,537 (±$3,947) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ambridge?
15.5%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ambridge?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ambridge work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsburgh (9%, 17 mi), Moon Township (5%, 6 mi), Cranberry Township (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ambridge walkable?
Ambridge is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.1 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ambridge without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. 86% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ambridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ambridge
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.