Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Cochranton trail those of 75% of U.S. towns
5% of workers work from home, where Pennsylvania as a whole has 16%. 11.4% of residents live below the poverty line (Pennsylvania 11.7%). The two grades for Cochranton are 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
Why Cochranton gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Cochranton is better than 24% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Cochranton’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($59,375, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (1.1%) is left out: Cochranton’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Cochranton could be anywhere from D to B.
How a workday changes Cochranton
On a workday 428 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 251 people come in from elsewhere.
About 910 people are in Cochranton on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.60 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.
21% of working residents work in Meadville
Where Cochranton clocks in
21% of workers
11% 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.
What work there is in Cochranton: 266 jobs
266 jobs are based in Cochranton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cochranton, 2013 → 2023: 273 → 266. 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 Cochranton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Cochranton: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cochranton workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 434 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.
The distance from Cochranton to work
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: Cochranton
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cochranton is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Cochranton 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 456 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). 10.6% of Cochranton households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cochranton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500, Cochranton ranks 2,375th of 3,771 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Bryn Athyn PA | 1,304 | $143K | 0.3% | 2.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Rose Valley PA | 1,017 | $247K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Bradford Woods PA | 1,126 | $153K | 1.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,373 | Ardmore AL | 1,485 | $50K | 12.6% | 1.5% | 6% | C− |
| 2,374 | Montezuma IA | 1,417 | $66K | 12.5% | 3.8% | 21% | C− |
| 2,375 | Cochranton PA | 1,090 | $59K | 11.4% | 1.1% | 3% | C− |
| 2,376 | Galien Township MI | 1,387 | $56K | 17.8% | 6.4% | 3% | C− |
| 2,377 | Concord Township PA | 1,249 | $68K | 10.4% | 3.1% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Cochranton, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
How Cochranton compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Wayne Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cochranton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cochranton | – | C− | A− | 24 min | $59,375 |
| Fairfield Township | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| East Fairfield Township | 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Wayne Township | 4% | C+ | B− | 24 min | $75,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Fairfield Township: not graded. East Fairfield Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cochranton’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 Cochranton: questions
What is the median household income in Cochranton?
$59,375 (±$27,740) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cochranton?
11.4%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cochranton?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cochranton work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Meadville (21%, 10 mi), Vernon Township (11%, 11 mi), West Mead Township (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cochranton walkable?
Cochranton is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cochranton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cochranton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cochranton
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.