Households in Fairchance have lower incomes than those in 96% of U.S. towns
2% of workers have no commute at all, next to 16% for Pennsylvania as a whole. 23.2% of residents are in poverty; Pennsylvania has 11.7%. For jobs and income Fairchance is better than 9% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Fairchance at work: what stands out
Fairchance is a place people come home to
There are 213 jobs based in Fairchance, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Fairchance has about 1,200 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Fairchance workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Pennsylvania. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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 774 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Fairchance
Job access by car holds Fairchance’s grade up (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($39,767, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (5.6%) is left out: Fairchance’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, Fairchance could be anywhere from D to C−.
In and out of Fairchance on a workday
On a workday 763 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 202 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Fairchance on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.28 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.
About 27 minutes to work from Fairchance
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairchance workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 467 commuters (the 2% 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.
13% of working residents work in Georges Township
Where Fairchance clocks in
13% 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 Fairchance: what the 213 are
213 jobs are based in Fairchance.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairchance, 2013 → 2023: 293 → 213. 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 Fairchance’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Fairchance goes 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.
For most of Fairchance, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 475 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). 8.9% of Fairchance households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Fairchance’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Fairchance ranks: 4,516th of 5,343 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Bryn Athyn PA | 1,304 | $143K | 0.3% | 2.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 34 | Edgeworth PA | 1,611 | $203K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,514 | Taylorsville NC | 2,333 | $39K | 27.7% | 1.9% | 12% | D |
| 4,515 | Kingston OK | 1,480 | $46K | 13.6% | 2.2% | 14% | D |
| 4,516 | Fairchance PA | 1,787 | $40K | 23.2% | 5.6% | 1% | D |
| 4,517 | Sumner Township MI | 1,850 | $57K | 16.6% | 6.8% | 2% | D |
| 4,518 | Williamstown NY | 1,356 | $62K | 16.7% | 4.6% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Fairchance, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
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 Fairchance: questions
What is the median household income in Fairchance?
$39,767 (±$19,330) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairchance?
23.2%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairchance?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairchance work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Georges Township (13%, 3 mi), North Union Township (10%, 7 mi), South Union Township (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairchance walkable?
Fairchance is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairchance without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairchance, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairchance
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.