Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Cheltenham Township top those of 83% of U.S. towns
7.5% of residents live below the poverty line; Pennsylvania has 11.7%. Jobs and income earn Cheltenham Township A−; getting around on foot earns it A+. Only 5% work in Cheltenham Township; the top destination outside it is Philadelphia (39%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Cheltenham Township apart on work
A lot of Cheltenham Township works one town over
44% of working residents work in a town that borders Cheltenham Township: Philadelphia (39%), Abington Township (4%) and Jenkintown (1%). Next door ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Cheltenham Township’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 31 minutes, longer than the Pennsylvania average of 26. Time on the road ↓
Most Cheltenham Township residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 8% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
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 drives the Jobs & income grade in Cheltenham Township
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cheltenham Township is better than 77% of U.S. towns, #342 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Cheltenham Township’s grade up (ahead of 96% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cheltenham Township could be anywhere from B+ to A.
How long Cheltenham Township spends getting to work: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cheltenham Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,384 commuters (the 22% 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.
The distance from Cheltenham Township to work
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.
Who leaves Cheltenham Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 16,153 residents head out to work, 797 work right here, and 9,890 people come in from elsewhere.
About 32,000 people are in Cheltenham Township on a workday afternoon, 16% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where Cheltenham Township goes to work
Where Cheltenham Township clocks in
39% of workers
2% 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.
Jobs in Cheltenham Township: what the 10,687 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cheltenham Township, 2014 → 2024: 10,784 → 10,687. 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 Cheltenham Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Cheltenham Township is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 20,941 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 96% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 42% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 16.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% 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). 8.7% of Cheltenham Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 11% of Cheltenham Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Cheltenham Township is 429th among 1,113 U.S. towns of 27,000 to 52,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Northampton Township PA | 39,919 | $159K | 2.5% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Horsham Township PA | 27,882 | $122K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 427 | Mount Pleasant WI | 28,253 | $92K | 5.9% | 4.5% | 10% | A− |
| 428 | East Lake FL | 33,283 | $99K | 6.2% | 4.9% | 5% | A− |
| 429 | Cheltenham Township PA | 38,498 | $109K | 7.5% | 5.7% | 5% | A− |
| 430 | Fort Lee NJ | 40,345 | $107K | 7.8% | 5.8% | 8% | A− |
| 431 | Sylvania Township OH | 50,627 | $105K | 6.2% | 4.8% | 18% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,113 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Cheltenham Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Work next door: 44% of Cheltenham Township’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cheltenham Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheltenham Township | – | A− | A+ | 31 min | $109,022 |
| Philadelphia | 39% | C | A+ | 32 min | $61,953 |
| Abington Township | 4% | A− | A+ | 29 min | $103,645 |
| Springfield Township | under 2% | A | A | 28 min | $135,683 |
| Jenkintown | 1% | B+ | A+ | 33 min | $110,703 |
| Glenside | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| McKinley | under 2% | — | — | 34 min | — |
| Wyndmoor | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Glenside, McKinley and Wyndmoor: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Philadelphia. Darker towns draw more of Cheltenham Township’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 Cheltenham Township: questions
What is the median household income in Cheltenham Township?
$109,022 (±$6,616) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cheltenham Township?
7.5%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cheltenham Township?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cheltenham Township work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Philadelphia (39%, 5 mi), Abington Township (4%, 3 mi), Upper Merion Township (2%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Cheltenham Township walkable?
Cheltenham Township is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cheltenham Township without a car?
11% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 42% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cheltenham Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cheltenham Township
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.