Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0At 9.4%, unemployment in Athens is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 2% of workers; Pennsylvania has 16%. The two grades for Athens are C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Athens in brief
Athens has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Athens went from 497 in 2013 to 926 in 2023, +86%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Athens works one town over
29% of working residents work in a town that borders Athens: Sayre (21%) and Athens Township (8%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Athens are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Athens workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 16% across Pennsylvania. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Athens’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Athens is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #975 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Athens’ grade up (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Athens could be anywhere from D to B.
In Athens, services account for most jobs
926 jobs are based in Athens.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Athens, 2013 → 2023: 497 → 926. 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 Athens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Athens: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Athens workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,299 commuters (the 2% 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.
Athens by day and by night
On a workday 1,347 residents head out to work, 119 work right here, and 807 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Athens on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.63 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.
21% of working residents work in Sayre
Where Athens clocks in
21% of workers
8% 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 commute from Athens, by distance
About 24% 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 of Athens commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Athens is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns, #580 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.6% across Pennsylvania.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,332 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 18.6% of Athens households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Athens’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Athens is 3,878th among 4,698 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Wallace Township PA | 3,759 | $183K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | West Pikeland Township PA | 4,045 | $226K | 0.9% | 2.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,876 | Lake Shastina CA | 3,001 | $81K | 12.2% | 9.5% | 3% | C− |
| 3,877 | Quitman GA | 4,032 | $19K | 42.6% | 2.9% | 16% | C− |
| 3,878 | Athens PA | 3,205 | $53K | 12.8% | 9.4% | 8% | C− |
| 3,879 | Bishop TX | 3,040 | $58K | 24.7% | 6.3% | 8% | C− |
| 3,880 | Haddon Township IN | 3,759 | $63K | 15.0% | 7.0% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Athens, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Bordering towns draw 29% of Athens’ workers
The biggest share goes to Sayre (21%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Athens workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | – | C− | B− | 19 min | $53,000 |
| Athens Township | 8% | C | B | 22 min | $72,237 |
| Greens Landing | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Sayre | 21% | C− | A | 19 min | $50,801 |
Same-state neighbors only. Greens Landing: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Athens’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 Athens: questions
What is the median household income in Athens?
$53,000 (±$8,789) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Athens?
12.8%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Athens?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Athens work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sayre (21%, 3 mi), Athens Township (8%, 3 mi), Barton (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Athens walkable?
Athens is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Athens without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Athens, from the people who make the trip.
More of Athens
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.