With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Jonestown works elsewhere
Jobs and income earn Jonestown B+; getting around on foot earns it C+. There are 159 jobs in Jonestown for 809 working residents. Hardly any work in Jonestown; the top destination outside it is Derry Township (9%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jonestown and work: the main findings
What’s behind Jonestown’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jonestown is better than 70% of U.S. towns. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Jonestown’s grade. It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jonestown could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Jonestown quiets down on a workday
On a workday 802 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 152 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Jonestown on a workday afternoon, 39% 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 2024, primary jobs.
The places Jonestown commutes to
Where Jonestown clocks in
9% of workers
8% of workers
6% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Jonestown
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jonestown, 2014 → 2024: 230 → 159. 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 Jonestown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Jonestown: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jonestown workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 917 commuters (the 11% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Jonestown
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.
In Jonestown, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jonestown is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 1,028 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). 1.4% of Jonestown households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jonestown’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Jonestown is 1,033rd of 5,381 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Bryn Athyn PA | 1,304 | $143K | 0.3% | 2.6% | 17% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Edgeworth PA | 1,611 | $203K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | West Conshohocken PA | 1,498 | $139K | 5.0% | 1.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,031 | Cambridge WI | 1,679 | $88K | 8.8% | 2.7% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,032 | Liberty UT | 1,484 | $107K | 4.0% | 1.5% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,033 | Jonestown PA | 1,666 | $89K | 6.9% | 3.8% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,034 | Big Beaver PA | 1,822 | $72K | 6.0% | 7.4% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,035 | Hayes Township MI | 2,012 | $82K | 2.4% | 2.0% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,381 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Jonestown, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Jonestown and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Union Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jonestown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonestown | – | B+ | C+ | 22 min | $89,000 |
| Swatara Township | under 3% | A− | C− | 22 min | $79,944 |
| Union Township | 6% | B− | C+ | 23 min | $73,083 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jonestown’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 Jonestown: questions
What is the median household income in Jonestown?
$89,000 (±$20,385) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jonestown?
6.9%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jonestown?
22 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jonestown work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Derry Township (9%, 14 mi), Bethel Township (8%, 4 mi), Lebanon (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Jonestown walkable?
Jonestown is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jonestown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jonestown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jonestown
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.