Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Carlisle earn less than those in 71% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Carlisle itself; outside it, South Middleton Township draws the most (7%, 5 miles). 15.1% of residents are in poverty (Pennsylvania 11.7%). The two grades for Carlisle are C+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Carlisle, in a few figures
Carlisle is where the jobs are
Carlisle has 14,215 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Carlisle 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 ↓
Carlisle draws workers from far and wide
The 14,215 jobs in Carlisle are filled from a wide area. Carlisle’s own residents hold 12% and the ten next-biggest home towns 26%; the other 62% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
41% of the jobs in Carlisle are in trade, transport and utilities, against 27% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Carlisle’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carlisle is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #751 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Carlisle’s grade up (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carlisle could be anywhere from C to B.
The daily commute in and out of Carlisle
On a workday 6,692 residents head out to work, 1,740 work right here, and 12,475 people come in from elsewhere.
About 28,000 people are in Carlisle on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 19 minutes each way for Carlisle’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carlisle workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,159 commuters (the 10% 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.
Where Carlisle’s workers come from
Where Carlisle clocks in
7% of workers
5% 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 work there is in Carlisle: 14,215 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carlisle, 2014 → 2024: 13,440 → 14,215. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carlisle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Carlisle’s workers travel
About 20% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Carlisle
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carlisle is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #46 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Carlisle 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 11,281 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 76% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% 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). 10.6% of Carlisle households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Carlisle’s commuters take a bus or train.
Carlisle is 1,250th of 1,712 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 31,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | West Whiteland Township PA | 20,826 | $133K | 3.0% | 1.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | South Fayette Township PA | 18,648 | $124K | 3.6% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,248 | Newton KS | 18,353 | $69K | 9.7% | 6.1% | 31% | C+ |
| 1,249 | Aberdeen MD | 18,374 | $75K | 14.3% | 5.7% | 9% | C+ |
| 1,250 | Carlisle PA | 22,693 | $62K | 15.1% | 4.4% | 21% | C+ |
| 1,251 | Lake Jackson TX | 27,803 | $91K | 11.7% | 8.0% | 11% | C+ |
| 1,252 | Summit Township MI | 22,705 | $66K | 7.7% | 7.3% | 10% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,712 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Carlisle, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Bordering towns draw 10% of Carlisle’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carlisle workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlisle | – | C+ | A+ | 19 min | $61,720 |
| North Middleton Township | 3% | A− | B | 20 min | $84,580 |
| South Middleton Township | 7% | A− | C+ | 23 min | $92,421 |
| West Pennsboro Township | under 2% | A− | C− | 25 min | $81,433 |
| Carlisle Barracks | under 2% | — | — | 13 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Carlisle Barracks: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to South Middleton Township. Darker towns draw more of Carlisle’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 2024, 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 Carlisle: questions
What is the median household income in Carlisle?
$61,720 (±$7,247) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carlisle?
15.1%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carlisle?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carlisle work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are South Middleton Township (7%, 5 mi), Harrisburg (5%, 18 mi), Middlesex Township (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Carlisle walkable?
Carlisle is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.5 out of 20, and 17% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carlisle without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 33% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carlisle, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carlisle
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.