Photo: Jakec · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Dallas top those of 69% of U.S. towns
Only 3% work in Dallas itself; outside it, Wilkes-Barre draws the most (13%, 8 miles). Poverty touches 16.7% of residents; Pennsylvania has 11.7%. Jobs and income earn Dallas C+; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Dallas and work: the main findings
Fewer jobs are based in Dallas than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Dallas fell from 2,307 in 2014 to 956 in 2024, −59%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Dallas
65% of Dallas residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Dallas pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Dallas pay little
31% of the jobs based in Dallas pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 32% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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.
Inside Dallas’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Dallas is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #742 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Household income holds Dallas’ grade up ($91,050, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Dallas could be anywhere from C− to A.
What work there is in Dallas: 956 jobs
956 jobs are based in Dallas.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dallas, 2014 → 2024: 2,307 → 956. 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 Dallas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Dallas
On a workday 1,226 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 923 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Dallas on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 per resident).
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 the trip to work from Dallas ends
Where Dallas clocks in
13% of workers
8% 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.
Commuting from Dallas: about 25 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dallas workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,118 commuters (the 15% 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 in the region Dallas works
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Dallas start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dallas is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #622 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.6% across Pennsylvania.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,315 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). 3.6% of Dallas households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Dallas’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,797 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600, Dallas comes 2,507th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Churchill PA | 3,014 | $107K | 1.9% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Thornbury Township PA | 3,165 | $172K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,505 | Dodson Township OH | 2,587 | $70K | 8.9% | 3.6% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,506 | Victor ID | 2,589 | $77K | 14.2% | 1.0% | 10% | C+ |
| 2,507 | Dallas PA | 2,685 | $91K | 16.7% | 5.4% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,508 | Levant ME | 3,289 | $86K | 9.0% | 4.4% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,509 | Sunfield Township MI | 2,055 | $78K | 10.7% | 5.2% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 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 Dallas, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Work in the towns next to Dallas
The biggest share goes to Dallas Township (8%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dallas workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas | – | C+ | B− | 25 min | $91,050 |
| Dallas Township | 8% | B | B+ | 29 min | $101,293 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dallas’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 Dallas: questions
What is the median household income in Dallas?
$91,050 (±$19,366) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dallas?
16.7%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dallas?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dallas work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilkes-Barre (13%, 8 mi), Dallas Township (8%, 2 mi), Plains Township (8%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Dallas walkable?
Dallas is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dallas 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 Dallas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dallas
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.