Photo: Self · Public domainHazleton’s household incomes are lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
25.0% of residents live below the poverty line; Pennsylvania has 11.7%. Jobs and income earn Hazleton C−; getting around on foot earns it A. Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers (Pennsylvania 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hazleton at work: what stands out
A lot of Hazleton works one town over
33% of working residents work in a town that borders Hazleton: Hazle Township (28%) and West Hazleton (5%). Next door ↓
Few Hazleton workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 16% across Pennsylvania. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Hazleton are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker. Time on the road ↓
Hazleton draws workers from far and wide
The 5,759 jobs in Hazleton are filled from a wide area. Hazleton’s own residents hold 20% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 56% 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.
Why Hazleton gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hazleton is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #959 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Hazleton’s grade up (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hazleton could be anywhere from D to C.
About 21 minutes each way for Hazleton’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hazleton workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,750 commuters (the 3% 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.
28% of working residents work in Hazle Township
Where Hazleton clocks in
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.
Who leaves Hazleton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 10,365 residents head out to work, 1,145 work right here, and 4,614 people come in from elsewhere.
About 25,000 people are in Hazleton on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.50 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.
The kinds of work in Hazleton
5,759 jobs are based in Hazleton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hazleton, 2013 → 2023: 6,356 → 5,759. 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 Hazleton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Hazleton
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Hazleton
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hazleton is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #259 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Hazleton 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 13,205 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). 17.1% of Hazleton households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Hazleton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hazleton next to U.S. towns of 21,000 to 41,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Northampton Township PA | 39,919 | $159K | 2.5% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Horsham Township PA | 27,882 | $122K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,319 | Junction City KS | 22,583 | $61K | 17.5% | 6.2% | 38% | C− |
| 1,320 | Watertown NY | 23,517 | $52K | 20.1% | 5.3% | 44% | C− |
| 1,321 | Hazleton PA | 30,286 | $46K | 25.0% | 5.6% | 10% | C− |
| 1,322 | Spartanburg SC | 39,978 | $52K | 23.8% | 7.4% | 26% | C− |
| 1,323 | Paragould AR | 31,135 | $57K | 17.8% | 7.2% | 45% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,415 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Hazleton, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
33% of Hazleton works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Hazle Township (28%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hazleton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazleton | – | C− | A | 21 min | $46,177 |
| Hazle Township | 28% | C | C | 21 min | $59,134 |
| West Hazleton | 5% | D | B− | 22 min | $34,118 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Hazleton’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 Hazleton: questions
What is the median household income in Hazleton?
$46,177 (±$7,152) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hazleton?
25.0%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hazleton?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hazleton work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hazle Township (28%, 2 mi), East Union Township (5%, 9 mi), West Hazleton (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hazleton walkable?
Hazleton is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hazleton without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hazleton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hazleton
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.