St. Mark's Episcopal Church · Photo: Jet Lowe · Public domainUnemployment in Jim Thorpe (3.4%) is lower than in 63% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Jim Thorpe; the top destination outside it is Allentown (4%, 24 miles). For jobs and income Jim Thorpe is better than 60% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (A−). 22% of workers work from home; Pennsylvania has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Jim Thorpe apart
No single place dominates Jim Thorpe’s commute
The biggest draw, Allentown, gets only 4% of working residents, and 57% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Jim Thorpe residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Jim Thorpe is services
88% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Jim Thorpe workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 26 across Pennsylvania. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Jim Thorpe gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Unemployment holds Jim Thorpe’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($72,904, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jim Thorpe could be anywhere from C to A.
Where Jim Thorpe goes to work
Where Jim Thorpe clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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.
Jim Thorpe is a services town
1,396 jobs are based in Jim Thorpe.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jim Thorpe, 2014 → 2024: 1,277 → 1,396. 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 Jim Thorpe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Jim Thorpe: 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 Jim Thorpe workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,569 commuters (the 22% 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.
A workday in Jim Thorpe: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,651 residents head out to work, 368 work right here, and 1,028 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,900 people are in Jim Thorpe on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.69 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 2024, primary jobs.
How far Jim Thorpe goes to work
About 19% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Jim Thorpe
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.6% across Pennsylvania, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,002 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). 7.2% of Jim Thorpe households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jim Thorpe’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,100, Jim Thorpe ranks 1,618th of 3,862 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Wallace Township PA | 3,759 | $183K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Pocopson Township PA | 4,480 | $230K | 1.3% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,616 | Duanesburg NY | 6,020 | $95K | 9.8% | 4.1% | 7% | B |
| 1,617 | Byron IL | 3,777 | $79K | 10.5% | 3.0% | 13% | B |
| 1,618 | Jim Thorpe PA | 4,531 | $73K | 7.6% | 3.4% | 18% | B |
| 1,619 | Bellevue Township MI | 3,218 | $84K | 10.7% | 2.7% | 6% | B |
| 1,620 | Forestville CA | 3,717 | $116K | 7.4% | 6.7% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,862 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Jim Thorpe, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
The towns around Jim Thorpe
The biggest share goes to Nesquehoning (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jim Thorpe workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Thorpe | – | B | A− | 31 min | $72,904 |
| Lehigh Township | under 3% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Penn Forest Township | under 3% | C | C | 42 min | $67,045 |
| Nesquehoning | 3% | C− | B | 30 min | $61,354 |
| Mahoning Township | under 3% | B+ | C | 31 min | $71,881 |
| Franklin Township | 2% | B− | C+ | 32 min | $88,924 |
| Summit Hill | under 3% | D | C+ | 38 min | $65,268 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lehigh Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jim Thorpe’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 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 Jim Thorpe: questions
What is the median household income in Jim Thorpe?
$72,904 (±$15,291) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jim Thorpe?
7.6%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jim Thorpe?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jim Thorpe work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Allentown (4%, 24 mi), Lehighton (4%, 4 mi), Nesquehoning (3%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Jim Thorpe walkable?
Jim Thorpe is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jim Thorpe without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jim Thorpe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jim Thorpe
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. 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.