Fulton Opera House · Photo: Scanlan · CC BY-SA 3.0At 8.1%, unemployment in Lancaster is higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 24 minutes each way (Pennsylvania 26, U.S. 26). The two grades for Lancaster are C for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in five work in Lancaster itself; outside it, Manheim Township draws the most (8%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The four measures behind Lancaster’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lancaster is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #883 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Lancaster’s grade up (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lancaster could be anywhere from C− to C+.
The daily commute in and out of Lancaster
On a workday 19,329 residents head out to work, 5,533 work right here, and 30,686 people come in from elsewhere.
About 70,000 people are in Lancaster on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The places Lancaster commutes to
Where Lancaster clocks in
8% of workers
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.
65% of the jobs in Lancaster pay over $3,333 a month
36,219 jobs are based in Lancaster.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lancaster, 2013 → 2023: 35,123 → 36,219. 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 Lancaster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 24 minutes in Lancaster
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lancaster workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,010 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.
How far Lancaster’s workers travel
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Lancaster
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lancaster is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #130 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 17.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.6% across Pennsylvania, on an EPA index of 9.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 28,997 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). 14.9% of Lancaster households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Lancaster’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Lancaster is 662nd among 749 U.S. towns of 41,000 to 79,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Haverford Township PA | 50,997 | $132K | 3.4% | 4.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Manheim Township PA | 44,826 | $102K | 5.8% | 2.7% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | Middletown Township PA | 45,547 | $114K | 5.4% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 660 | North Little Rock AR | 65,120 | $53K | 20.3% | 5.9% | 22% | C |
| 661 | Hamilton OH | 64,644 | $55K | 19.6% | 5.9% | 16% | C |
| 662 | Lancaster PA | 58,366 | $64K | 20.3% | 8.1% | 22% | C |
| 663 | St. Cloud MN | 72,647 | $61K | 20.2% | 6.0% | 44% | C |
| 664 | Burlington NC | 61,496 | $57K | 16.4% | 6.5% | 26% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 749 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Lancaster, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Next door is work for 17% of Lancaster
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lancaster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster | – | C | A | 24 min | $63,690 |
| Manheim Township | 8% | A | B+ | 20 min | $102,134 |
| West Lampeter Township | 2% | A | C | 28 min | $110,143 |
| Lancaster Township | 2% | B+ | B | 24 min | $88,912 |
| East Lampeter Township | 5% | B+ | B | 25 min | $87,361 |
| Willow Street | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Willow Street: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Manheim Township. Darker towns draw more of Lancaster’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 Lancaster: questions
What is the median household income in Lancaster?
$63,690 (±$3,939) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lancaster?
20.3%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lancaster?
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 Lancaster work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Manheim Township (8%, 3 mi), East Hempfield Township (7%, 5 mi), East Lampeter Township (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lancaster walkable?
Lancaster is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 18% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lancaster without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lancaster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lancaster
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.