Photo: André Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 2.0Irwin has lower unemployment (2.7%) than 75% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 74% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Irwin B; getting around on foot earns it B−. Only 3% work in Irwin itself; outside it, Pittsburgh draws the most (14%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Irwin
The better-paid jobs are outside Irwin
58% of Irwin residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Irwin pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Irwin has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Irwin went from 966 in 2013 to 1,322 in 2023, +37%. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Irwin pay little
27% of the jobs based in Irwin pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 30% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Irwin’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Irwin is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #627 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Irwin’s grade up (ahead of 82% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($59,963, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Irwin could be anywhere from C to A−.
The kinds of work in Irwin
1,322 jobs are based in Irwin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Irwin, 2013 → 2023: 966 → 1,322. 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 Irwin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Irwin on a workday
On a workday 1,714 residents head out to work, 58 work right here, and 1,264 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Irwin on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.75 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.
Where people from Irwin work
Where Irwin clocks in
14% of workers
10% 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.
About 27 minutes to work from Irwin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Irwin workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,000 commuters (the 9% 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.
How far it is to work from Irwin
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.
In Irwin, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Irwin is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns, #554 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% 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 2,199 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% 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). 2.5% of Irwin households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Irwin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Irwin next to U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,100: 1,961st of 4,430 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Wallace Township PA | 3,759 | $183K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Pocopson Township PA | 4,480 | $230K | 1.3% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,959 | Paradise Hills NM | 4,591 | $73K | 11.1% | 4.3% | 1% | B |
| 1,960 | Williamston MI | 3,810 | $71K | 9.2% | 4.3% | 8% | B |
| 1,961 | Irwin PA | 3,759 | $60K | 13.5% | 2.7% | 3% | B |
| 1,962 | Chelan WA | 4,494 | $83K | 8.4% | 1.6% | 35% | B |
| 1,963 | West Monroe NY | 4,090 | $91K | 5.9% | 5.5% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,430 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Irwin, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
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 Irwin: questions
What is the median household income in Irwin?
$59,963 (±$13,184) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Irwin?
13.5%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Irwin?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Irwin work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsburgh (14%, 16 mi), North Huntingdon Township (10%, 2 mi), Hempfield Township (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Irwin walkable?
Irwin is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 10.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Irwin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Irwin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Irwin
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.