Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Highspire works elsewhere
The two grades for Highspire are C+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. 215 jobs are based in Highspire; 1,256 of its residents have a job. Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Highspire and work: the main findings
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Highspire
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Highspire is better than 42% of U.S. towns, #760 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Highspire’s grade up (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($52,618, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Highspire could be anywhere from C− to B+.
How many people are in Highspire by day
On a workday 1,233 residents head out to work, 23 work right here, and 192 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Highspire on a workday afternoon, 38% 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.
10% of working residents work in Harrisburg
Where Highspire clocks in
10% of workers
8% 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.
Jobs in Highspire: what the 215 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Highspire, 2013 → 2023: 200 → 215. 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 Highspire’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 24 minutes in Highspire
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Highspire workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,348 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Highspire
About 16% 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.
Most trips from Highspire start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Highspire is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #545 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 1,491 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 7.2% of Highspire households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Highspire’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Highspire is 2,731st among 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Churchill PA | 3,014 | $107K | 1.9% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Thornbury Township PA | 3,165 | $172K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,729 | Seneca IL | 2,310 | $87K | 22.2% | 4.0% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,730 | Lakeview OR | 2,419 | $71K | 12.4% | 1.0% | 48% | C+ |
| 2,731 | Highspire PA | 2,725 | $53K | 14.3% | 4.3% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,732 | Granville Township IL | 2,741 | $71K | 8.8% | 4.7% | 16% | C+ |
| 2,733 | New Bremen NY | 2,786 | $61K | 6.3% | 2.8% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Highspire, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Around Highspire: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Lower Swatara Township (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Highspire workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highspire | – | C+ | B | 24 min | $52,618 |
| Lower Swatara Township | 8% | A− | B+ | 22 min | $87,163 |
| Steelton | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 20 min | $58,194 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Highspire’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 Highspire: questions
What is the median household income in Highspire?
$52,618 (±$4,060) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Highspire?
14.3%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Highspire?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Highspire work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harrisburg (10%, 7 mi), Lower Swatara Township (8%, 2 mi), Swatara Township (6%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Highspire walkable?
Highspire is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 16.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Highspire 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 Highspire, from the people who make the trip.
More of Highspire
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.