Photo: Nyttend · Public domainFerndale has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Household incomes here are lower than in 79% of U.S. towns. Employers in Ferndale report 298 jobs for 660 working residents. The two grades for Ferndale 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
Ferndale and work: the main findings
A lot of Ferndale works one town over
27% of working residents work in a town that borders Ferndale: Johnstown (23%) and Upper Yoder Township (4%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Ferndale are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker. 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 660 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Ferndale’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Ferndale is better than 29% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Ferndale’s grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($56,625, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (3.0%) is left out: Ferndale’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, Ferndale could be anywhere from C− to C+.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Ferndale
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ferndale workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 721 commuters (the 10% 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.
Who commutes out of Ferndale, and who commutes in
On a workday 641 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 279 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Ferndale on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
23% of working residents work in Johnstown
Where Ferndale clocks in
23% of workers
14% of workers
4% 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.
29% of the jobs in Ferndale make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ferndale, 2013 → 2023: 375 → 298. 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 Ferndale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Ferndale commutes
About 19% 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.
Ferndale is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ferndale is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Ferndale 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 805 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). 7.9% of Ferndale households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ferndale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Ferndale is 3,701st among 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Bryn Athyn PA | 1,304 | $143K | 0.3% | 2.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Rose Valley PA | 1,017 | $247K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Bradford Woods PA | 1,126 | $153K | 1.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,699 | Greensboro MD | 1,962 | $54K | 15.9% | 3.7% | 3% | C |
| 3,700 | Banner Elk NC | 1,242 | $86K | 13.0% | 2.4% | 12% | C |
| 3,701 | Ferndale PA | 1,485 | $57K | 14.9% | 3.0% | 3% | C |
| 3,702 | South Carthage TN | 1,576 | $56K | 17.2% | 3.0% | 4% | C |
| 3,703 | Perry Township OH | 1,989 | $77K | 18.8% | 2.8% | <1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | 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 Ferndale, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Work next door: 27% of Ferndale’s workers
The biggest share goes to Johnstown (23%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ferndale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferndale | – | C | A− | 20 min | $56,625 |
| Stonycreek Township | under 2% | C+ | C | 18 min | $54,648 |
| Johnstown | 23% | D | A | 20 min | $37,888 |
| Elim | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Upper Yoder Township | 4% | B− | C+ | 23 min | $66,974 |
| Riverside | under 2% | — | — | 15 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Elim and Riverside: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ferndale’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 Ferndale: questions
What is the median household income in Ferndale?
$56,625 (±$2,731) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ferndale?
14.9%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ferndale?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ferndale work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Johnstown (23%, 2 mi), Richland Township (14%, 4 mi), Upper Yoder Township (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ferndale walkable?
Ferndale is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ferndale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ferndale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ferndale
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.