Hometown at work: jobs, income and the commute
10% of workers work from home, against 16% across Pennsylvania. Only 2% stay in Hometown for work; outside it, Rush Township is the main destination (7%, 2 miles). The average commute takes 31 minutes each way, next to 26 for Pennsylvania and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Hometown: the figures worth knowing
How long Hometown spends getting to work: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hometown workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 627 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.
The daily commute in and out of Hometown
On a workday 574 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 495 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 (0.87 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where people from Hometown work
Where Hometown clocks in
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.
The kinds of work in Hometown
509 jobs are based in Hometown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hometown, 2014 → 2024: 450 → 509. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hometown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Hometown
About 23% 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 2024.
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 2024, 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 Hometown: questions
What is the median household income in Hometown?
$91,250 (±$59,946) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hometown?
2.1%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hometown?
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 Hometown work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rush Township (7%, 2 mi), Hazle Township (7%, 10 mi), West Hazleton (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Hometown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hometown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hometown
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.