Photo: Cishuman · CC BY-SA 4.0Bangor has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
757 jobs are based in Bangor for 2,413 working residents. Bangor grades B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 8.3 in Allentown.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Bangor, in brief
No single place dominates Bangor’s commute
The biggest draw, Palmer Township, gets only 5% of working residents, and 67% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Bangor residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Bangor
62% of Bangor residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 40% of the jobs based in Bangor pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Bangor than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bangor fell from 1,065 in 2013 to 757 in 2023, −29%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Bangor empties out on a workday
About 3,500 people are in Bangor on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than the 5,100 who live here: 2,300 head out to work and 650 come in. Day and night ↓
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 drives the Jobs & income grade in Bangor
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bangor is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #562 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Unemployment holds Bangor’s grade up (2.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($70,076, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bangor could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
5% of working residents work in Palmer Township
Where Bangor clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workers
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.
What Bangor’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bangor, 2013 → 2023: 1,065 → 757. 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 Bangor’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Bangor, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,306 residents head out to work, 107 work right here, and 650 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Bangor on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Getting to work from Bangor takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bangor workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,389 commuters (the 6% 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.
Bangor’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Bangor
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bangor is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #340 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 2,546 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, 45% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 53% 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). 5.2% of Bangor households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bangor’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bangor is 1,524th of 3,627 U.S. towns of 3,600 to 6,900 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Wallace Township PA | 3,759 | $183K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| 31 | West Vincent Township PA | 6,885 | $203K | 1.4% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,522 | Mount Ephraim NJ | 4,716 | $80K | 10.5% | 5.6% | 3% | B |
| 1,523 | Wintersville OH | 3,660 | $77K | 8.1% | 2.6% | 11% | B |
| 1,524 | Bangor PA | 5,118 | $70K | 9.5% | 2.9% | 4% | B |
| 1,525 | Emma Township KS | 4,017 | $75K | 7.0% | 3.7% | 21% | B |
| 1,526 | Lyman ME | 4,713 | $87K | 9.0% | 3.9% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,627 | 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 Bangor, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Work in the towns next to Bangor
The biggest share goes to Washington Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bangor workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangor | – | B | A− | 27 min | $70,076 |
| Washington Township | 4% | B+ | C− | 32 min | $86,442 |
| East Bangor | under 3% | B− | C+ | 36 min | $81,250 |
| Roseto | under 3% | B | A | 26 min | $74,625 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bangor’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 Bangor: questions
What is the median household income in Bangor?
$70,076 (±$7,007) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bangor?
9.5%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bangor?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bangor work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Palmer Township (5%, 12 mi), Bethlehem (4%, 19 mi), Washington Township (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bangor walkable?
Bangor is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 15.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bangor without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 45% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bangor, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bangor
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.