Photo: CanonLawJunkie · CC BY-SA 4.0Forks Township’s household incomes are higher than in 84% of U.S. towns
Only 7% stay in Forks Township for work; outside it, Bethlehem is the main destination (7%, 11 miles). The poverty rate is 4.5%, where Pennsylvania as a whole has 11.7%. Forks Township grades A for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Forks Township
Forks Township trades workers with the towns around it
Forks Township has about as many jobs (6,132) as working residents (6,875), but they are mostly different people: 6,375 residents leave for work each day while 5,632 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in Forks Township are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Forks Township makes and builds things
51% of the jobs based in Forks Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Forks Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 14%. The jobs ↓
No single place dominates Forks Township’s commute
The biggest draw, Bethlehem, gets only 7% of working residents, and 56% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Forks Township residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Forks Township draws workers from far and wide
The 6,132 jobs in Forks Township are filled from a wide area. Forks Township’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 33%; the other 59% 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.
The figures behind Forks Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Forks Township is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #180 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Household income is its strongest input ($110,190, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Forks Township could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
In and out of Forks Township on a workday
On a workday 6,375 residents head out to work, 500 work right here, and 5,632 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 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.
Goods, not services: 51% of the jobs in Forks Township
6,132 jobs are based in Forks Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forks Township, 2013 → 2023: 7,112 → 6,132. 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 Forks Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Forks Township’s working residents head each day
Where Forks Township clocks in
7% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
About 30 minutes each way, longer than most of Pennsylvania
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forks Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,946 commuters (the 17% 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.
The commute from Forks Township, by distance
About 17% 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.
In Forks Township, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Forks Township is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns, #712 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 8,388 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 39% 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 1.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 66% 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). 3.0% of Forks Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Forks Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Forks Township ranks: 371st of 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Lower Moreland Township PA | 14,116 | $154K | 2.6% | 2.0% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | West Whiteland Township PA | 20,826 | $133K | 3.0% | 1.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Skippack Township PA | 14,502 | $148K | 2.5% | 2.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 369 | Newcastle OK | 15,198 | $93K | 3.8% | 2.8% | 8% | A |
| 370 | Richland Township IN | 15,217 | $101K | 3.9% | 1.6% | 16% | A |
| 371 | Forks Township PA | 16,879 | $110K | 4.5% | 3.1% | 7% | A |
| 372 | Sunset FL | 13,535 | $109K | 9.1% | 2.4% | 5% | A |
| 373 | Somers NY | 21,374 | $170K | 4.2% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | 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 Forks Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
The towns next door employ 11% of Forks Township
The biggest share goes to Easton (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Forks Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forks Township | – | A | C+ | 30 min | $110,190 |
| Palmer Township | 5% | A | A− | 28 min | $116,014 |
| Tatamy | under 3% | A+ | A | 28 min | $122,188 |
| Easton | 6% | C+ | A+ | 28 min | $69,348 |
| Stockertown | under 3% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Plainfield Township | under 3% | B | C | 24 min | $87,230 |
| Lower Mount Bethel Township | under 3% | A− | C− | 34 min | $84,083 |
Same-state neighbors only. Stockertown: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Forks Township’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 Forks Township: questions
What is the median household income in Forks Township?
$110,190 (±$10,022) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forks Township?
4.5%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forks Township?
30 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forks Township work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bethlehem (7%, 11 mi), Easton (6%, 3 mi), Allentown (5%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Forks Township walkable?
Forks Township is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forks Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Forks Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forks Township
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.