Dalton has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Home is the office for 7% of workers (Pennsylvania 16%). 143 jobs are based in Dalton, against 593 working residents. Jobs and income earn Dalton B+; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Dalton stands out on work
Dalton and Scranton trade workers both ways
Scranton is the top workplace for Dalton residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Dalton come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Dalton is a place people come home to
There are 143 jobs based in Dalton, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Dalton has about 850 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 593 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Dalton
On income, poverty and job access, Dalton is better than 72% of U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($95,862, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (0.4%) is left out: Dalton’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Dalton could be anywhere from B− to A.
16% of working residents work in Scranton
Where Dalton clocks in
16% 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.
Dalton quiets down on a workday
On a workday 587 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 137 people come in from elsewhere.
About 850 people are in Dalton on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
45% of the jobs in Dalton make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dalton, 2013 → 2023: 271 → 143. 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 Dalton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Dalton, about 23 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dalton workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 691 commuters (the 7% 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 many miles Dalton commutes
About 21% 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.
For most of Dalton, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dalton is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 746 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). 2.8% of Dalton households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dalton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Dalton is 729th among 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Bryn Athyn PA | 1,304 | $143K | 0.3% | 2.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Rose Valley PA | 1,017 | $247K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Bradford Woods PA | 1,126 | $153K | 1.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 727 | Logan IA | 1,352 | $85K | 4.6% | 1.1% | 16% | B+ |
| 728 | Leetsdale PA | 1,102 | $66K | 5.7% | 4.8% | 7% | B+ |
| 729 | Dalton PA | 1,296 | $96K | 7.8% | 0.4% | 1% | B+ |
| 730 | Warren CT | 1,389 | $135K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 8% | B+ |
| 731 | Little Mackinaw Township IL | 1,433 | $90K | 5.6% | 3.0% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | 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 Dalton, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Dalton and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Glenburn Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Dalton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton | – | B+ | C+ | 23 min | $95,862 |
| North Abington Township | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Glenburn Township | 2% | A− | B− | 25 min | $88,333 |
| West Abington Township | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Waverly Township | under 2% | A+ | B | 28 min | $151,442 |
| La Plume Township | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Abington Township, West Abington Township and La Plume Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Dalton’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 Dalton: questions
What is the median household income in Dalton?
$95,862 (±$11,514) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dalton?
7.8%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dalton?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dalton work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Scranton (16%, 10 mi), South Abington Township (6%, 4 mi), Dunmore (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dalton walkable?
Dalton is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dalton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dalton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dalton
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.