Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0At 2.4%, unemployment in Ephrata is lower than in 79% of U.S. towns
For 6% of workers, the job is at home, where Pennsylvania as a whole has 16%. The two grades for Ephrata are B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in ten stay in Ephrata for work; outside it, East Cocalico Township is the main destination (7%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Ephrata apart
No single place dominates Ephrata’s commute
The biggest draw, East Cocalico Township, gets only 7% of working residents, and 54% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Ephrata residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Ephrata draws workers from far and wide
The 5,480 jobs in Ephrata are filled from a wide area. Ephrata’s own residents hold 12% and the ten next-biggest home towns 30%; the other 58% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Why Ephrata gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ephrata is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #409 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Ephrata’s grade up (ahead of 82% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($69,735, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ephrata could be anywhere from B to A.
The places Ephrata commutes to
Where Ephrata clocks in
7% of workers
6% 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.
Who works in Ephrata, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 6,369 residents head out to work, 643 work right here, and 4,837 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Ephrata on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Inside Ephrata’s 5,480 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ephrata, 2013 → 2023: 5,047 → 5,480. 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 Ephrata’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 23 minutes in Ephrata
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ephrata workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,228 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Ephrata
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.
In Ephrata, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ephrata is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #322 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.5% 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 7,648 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% 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). 7.0% of Ephrata households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Ephrata’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Ephrata is 796th among 2,059 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Lower Moreland Township PA | 14,116 | $154K | 2.6% | 2.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Skippack Township PA | 14,502 | $148K | 2.5% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Upper Uwchlan Township PA | 13,681 | $191K | 1.6% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 794 | Lakeland South WA | 13,100 | $111K | 6.2% | 6.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 795 | Glendale WI | 14,795 | $78K | 10.0% | 3.1% | 8% | B+ |
| 796 | Ephrata PA | 13,647 | $70K | 7.9% | 2.4% | 9% | B+ |
| 797 | Ferndale MD | 17,529 | $95K | 8.2% | 5.1% | 3% | B+ |
| 798 | Lake Monticello VA | 10,662 | $107K | 6.7% | 3.0% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,059 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Ephrata, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Work in the towns next to Ephrata
The biggest share goes to Ephrata Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ephrata workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ephrata | – | B+ | A− | 23 min | $69,735 |
| Ephrata Township | 5% | B+ | B+ | 24 min | $85,058 |
| Akron | under 3% | A | B+ | 24 min | $76,569 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ephrata’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 Ephrata: questions
What is the median household income in Ephrata?
$69,735 (±$6,610) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ephrata?
7.9%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ephrata?
23 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ephrata work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are East Cocalico Township (7%, 5 mi), Manheim Township (6%, 9 mi), Lancaster (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ephrata walkable?
Ephrata is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ephrata without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ephrata, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ephrata
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.