Photo: Nyttend · Public domainFreedom has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The two grades for Freedom are B− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Freedom has 190 jobs; 664 of its residents have a job. Only 3% stay in Freedom for work; outside it, Cranberry Township is the main destination (6%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Freedom
Fewer jobs are based in Freedom than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Freedom fell from 334 in 2013 to 190 in 2023, −43%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Freedom is a place people come home to
There are 190 jobs based in Freedom, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Freedom has about 970 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Freedom workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 26 across Pennsylvania. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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 664 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Freedom’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Freedom is better than 46% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Freedom’s grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.4%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (2.3%) is left out: Freedom’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Freedom could be anywhere from C to A−.
Freedom is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Freedom, 2013 → 2023: 334 → 190. 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 Freedom’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Freedom
On a workday 643 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 169 people come in from elsewhere.
About 970 people are in Freedom on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
How long Freedom spends getting to work: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Freedom workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 711 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.
Where the trip to work from Freedom ends
Where Freedom clocks in
6% of workers
4% 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.
Where in the region Freedom works
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.
Most of Freedom commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Freedom is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 789 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 100% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 62% 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). 6.7% of Freedom households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Freedom’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Freedom ranks: 2,303rd of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Bryn Athyn PA | 1,304 | $143K | 0.3% | 2.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Rose Valley PA | 1,017 | $247K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Bradford Woods PA | 1,126 | $153K | 1.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,301 | Eden VT | 1,291 | $84K | 6.1% | 0.0% | 4% | B− |
| 2,302 | Oriskany NY | 1,329 | $63K | 11.0% | 4.2% | 6% | B− |
| 2,303 | Freedom PA | 1,442 | $74K | 20.4% | 2.3% | 3% | B− |
| 2,304 | Dresden ME | 1,792 | $75K | 9.3% | 1.2% | 2% | B− |
| 2,305 | Tremont ME | 1,552 | $89K | 6.6% | 2.3% | 19% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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 Freedom, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Next door to Freedom
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Freedom workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom | – | B− | B | 31 min | $74,327 |
| New Sewickley Township | under 3% | B | C− | 26 min | $73,701 |
| Pine Run | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Monaca | under 3% | B− | B+ | 32 min | $73,538 |
| Conway | under 3% | C+ | A− | 24 min | $66,029 |
| East Rochester | under 3% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Rochester Township | under 3% | B | D | 27 min | $60,500 |
Same-state neighbors only. Pine Run: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. East Rochester: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Freedom’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 Freedom: questions
What is the median household income in Freedom?
$74,327 (±$17,570) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Freedom?
20.4%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Freedom?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Freedom work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cranberry Township (6%, 8 mi), Pittsburgh (4%, 22 mi), Moon Township (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Freedom walkable?
Freedom is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 14.0 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Freedom without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 100% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Freedom, from the people who make the trip.
More of Freedom
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.