Photo: Smallbones · Public domainA job hub: Lima has 3.1 jobs per working resident, and 2,938 people come in to work
Commuters spend 34 minutes getting to work on average, where Pennsylvania has 26 and the U.S. 26. There are 2,951 jobs in Lima, and 958 of its residents work somewhere. Only 1% stay in Lima for work; outside it, Philadelphia is the main destination (20%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Lima: the gist
Lima has far more jobs than workers
Lima has 2,951 jobs, 3.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,800 people are in town, 71% more than the 2,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Lima than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Lima fell from 6,206 in 2013 to 2,951 in 2023, −52%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Lima and Philadelphia trade workers both ways
Philadelphia is the top workplace for Lima residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Lima come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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; with 958 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How a workday changes Lima
On a workday 945 residents head out to work and 13 work right here.
About 4,800 people are in Lima on a workday afternoon, 71% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Lima
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lima, 2013 → 2023: 6,206 → 2,951. 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 Lima’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the people who work in Lima live
Where Lima clocks in
20% 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.
About 34 minutes each way for Lima’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lima workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 461 commuters (the 21% 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.
Half of Lima commutes less than 12 miles
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.
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 Lima: questions
What is the median household income in Lima?
$76,932 (±$12,856) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lima?
3.8%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lima?
34 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lima work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Philadelphia (20%, 18 mi), Middletown Township (4%, 1 mi), Lower Merion Township (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Lima without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lima, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lima
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.