Photo: GalaMoruu · CC BY-SA 4.0Lock Haven has lower household incomes than 92% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Lock Haven are D for jobs and income and A for walkability. Below the poverty line: 20.9% of residents, where Pennsylvania as a whole has 11.7%. About one in seven stay in Lock Haven for work; outside it, Williamsport is the main destination (5%, 23 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lock Haven: the figures worth knowing
Lock Haven trades workers with the towns around it
Lock Haven has about as many jobs (3,146) as working residents (3,028), but they are mostly different people: 2,536 residents leave for work each day while 2,654 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Lock Haven are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Lock Haven’s commute
The biggest draw, Williamsport, gets only 5% of working residents, and 56% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Lock Haven residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Lock Haven are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Lock Haven
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lock Haven is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #1,023 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Lock Haven’s grade up (ahead of 40% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (11.2%, U.S. 5.2%).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lock Haven stays D.
The daily flow of workers through Lock Haven
On a workday 2,536 residents head out to work, 492 work right here, and 2,654 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.04 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.
Where the trip to work from Lock Haven ends
Where Lock Haven clocks in
5% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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 18 minutes each way for Lock Haven’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lock Haven workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,251 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.
What work there is in Lock Haven: 3,146 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lock Haven, 2013 → 2023: 3,677 → 3,146. 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 Lock Haven’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Lock Haven, by distance
About 30% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Lock Haven is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lock Haven is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #113 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Lock Haven near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,652 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). 11.7% of Lock Haven households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lock Haven’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Lock Haven sits among U.S. towns of 6,000 to 11,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | West Vincent Township PA | 6,885 | $203K | 1.4% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Bethel Township PA | 9,774 | $177K | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Upper Nazareth Township PA | 8,521 | $122K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,819 | West Livingston TX | 8,199 | $62K | 18.8% | 9.1% | 2% | D |
| 2,820 | Toccoa GA | 9,539 | $48K | 23.9% | 8.8% | 18% | D |
| 2,821 | Lock Haven PA | 8,500 | $46K | 20.9% | 11.2% | 16% | D |
| 2,822 | Martin TN | 11,060 | $43K | 26.3% | 6.4% | 34% | D |
| 2,823 | Fort Valley GA | 9,220 | $50K | 29.6% | 7.4% | 17% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,922 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Lock Haven, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
How Lock Haven compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lock Haven workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lock Haven | – | D | A | 18 min | $46,102 |
| Castanea Township | 5% | C | D− | 21 min | $59,545 |
| Woodward Township | under 2% | B | C+ | 27 min | $86,083 |
| Flemington | 3% | C− | B | 16 min | $53,824 |
| Allison Township | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Allison Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Castanea Township. Darker towns draw more of Lock Haven’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 Lock Haven: questions
What is the median household income in Lock Haven?
$46,102 (±$5,771) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lock Haven?
20.9%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lock Haven?
18 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lock Haven work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Williamsport (5%, 23 mi), Castanea Township (5%, 2 mi), Bald Eagle Township (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lock Haven walkable?
Lock Haven is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lock Haven without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lock Haven, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lock Haven
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.