Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Great Bend works elsewhere
Working residents average 19 minutes each way; Pennsylvania averages 26, the U.S. 26. 68 jobs are based in Great Bend, and 256 of its residents work somewhere. Only 2% work in Great Bend itself; outside it, Union draws the most (11%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Great Bend at work: what stands out
Many Great Bend workers cross into New York
43% of Great Bend workers work outside Pennsylvania, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Union (11%), Binghamton (7%) and Conklin (5%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Great Bend is a place people come home to
There are 68 jobs based in Great Bend, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Great Bend has about 430 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Great Bend are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 54 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 256 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The places Great Bend commutes to
Where Great Bend clocks in
11% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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 commutes out of Great Bend, and who commutes in
On a workday 252 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 64 people come in from elsewhere.
About 430 people are in Great Bend on a workday afternoon, 30% 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.
About 19 minutes each way for Great Bend’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Great Bend workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 187 commuters (the 20% 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.
What Great Bend’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Great Bend, 2013 → 2023: 142 → 68. 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 Great Bend’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Great Bend to work
About 27% 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.
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 Great Bend: questions
What is the median household income in Great Bend?
$46,071 (±$9,433) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Great Bend?
11.4%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Great Bend?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Great Bend work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Union (11%, 18 mi), Great Bend Township (9%, 3 mi), Binghamton (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Great Bend without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Great Bend, from the people who make the trip.
More of Great Bend
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.