Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domainHousehold incomes in Berwick trail those of 88% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Berwick; the top destination outside it is Salem Township (6%, 5 miles). Below the poverty line: 16.5% of residents (Pennsylvania 11.7%). Berwick grades C− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Berwick in brief
Berwick makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Berwick are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Berwick residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 26%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Berwick are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker, and quicker than any town next door (24 to 33 minutes). 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.
The four measures behind Berwick’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Berwick is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #976 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Berwick’s grade up (ahead of 48% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($49,800, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Berwick could be anywhere from D to C+.
Goods, not services: 39% of the jobs in Berwick
3,739 jobs are based in Berwick.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Berwick, 2013 → 2023: 4,012 → 3,739. 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 Berwick’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 20 minutes from Berwick
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Berwick workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,387 commuters (the 9% 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.
Who leaves Berwick for work, and who comes in
On a workday 3,543 residents head out to work, 887 work right here, and 2,852 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 (0.84 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.
Where Berwick’s working residents head each day
Where Berwick clocks in
6% 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.
The distance from Berwick to work
About 18% 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.
In Berwick, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Berwick is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #247 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Berwick 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 4,819 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.6% of Berwick households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Berwick’s commuters take a bus or train.
Berwick next to U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000: 2,554th 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Bethel Township PA | 9,774 | $177K | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Upper Nazareth Township PA | 8,521 | $122K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Upper Uwchlan Township PA | 13,681 | $191K | 1.6% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,552 | Marianna FL | 7,289 | $40K | 22.1% | 3.2% | 39% | C− |
| 2,553 | Ruidoso NM | 7,580 | $53K | 20.6% | 3.3% | 46% | C− |
| 2,554 | Berwick PA | 10,297 | $50K | 16.5% | 6.6% | 20% | C− |
| 2,555 | Gun Barrel City TX | 7,133 | $71K | 16.1% | 8.7% | 11% | C− |
| 2,556 | Shiloh OH | 10,526 | $46K | 24.5% | 11.4% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Berwick, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Berwick and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Briar Creek (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Berwick workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berwick | – | C− | A | 20 min | $49,800 |
| Briar Creek Township | under 2% | B− | C+ | 29 min | $77,333 |
| Mifflin Township | under 2% | B | C+ | 24 min | $61,250 |
| Briar Creek | 3% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Foundryville | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Briar Creek: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Foundryville: 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 Berwick’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 Berwick: questions
What is the median household income in Berwick?
$49,800 (±$5,192) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Berwick?
16.5%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Berwick?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Berwick work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salem Township (6%, 5 mi), South Centre Township (5%, 6 mi), Bloomsburg (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Berwick walkable?
Berwick is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Berwick without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Berwick, from the people who make the trip.
More of Berwick
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.