Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Jobs and the daily commute in Big Run
5% of workers work from home; Pennsylvania has 16%. Only 3% work in Big Run itself; outside it, Punxsutawney draws the most (10%, 5 miles). Working residents average 31 minutes each way, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Big Run quiets down on a workday
On a workday 190 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 108 people come in from elsewhere.
About 540 people are in Big Run on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.58 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.
Where the trip to work from Big Run ends
Where Big Run clocks in
10% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 88% of the jobs in Big Run
113 jobs are based in Big Run.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Big Run, 2013 → 2023: 110 → 113. 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 Big Run’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 31 minutes each way for Big Run’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Big Run workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 216 commuters (the 5% 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.
How far Big Run’s workers travel
About 29% 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.
The towns around Big Run
The biggest share goes to Henderson Township (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Big Run workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Run | – | — | — | 31 min | $60,625 |
| Gaskill Township | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Henderson Township | 8% | C− | C+ | 26 min | $58,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Gaskill Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Big Run’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 Big Run: questions
What is the median household income in Big Run?
$60,625 (±$21,606) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Big Run?
20.5%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Big Run?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Big Run work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Punxsutawney (10%, 5 mi), Henderson Township (8%, 3 mi), DuBois (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Big Run without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Big Run, from the people who make the trip.
More of Big Run
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.