Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 4.0At 1.5%, unemployment in Lower Heidelberg Township is lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Lower Heidelberg Township are A+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 3% stay in Lower Heidelberg Township for work; outside it, Reading is the main destination (9%, 7 miles). Below the poverty line: 1.8% of residents; Pennsylvania has 11.7%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Lower Heidelberg Township stands out on work
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Lower Heidelberg Township’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 31 minutes, longer than the Pennsylvania average of 26. Time on the road ↓
Lower Heidelberg Township empties out on a workday
About 4,800 people are in Lower Heidelberg Township on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 6,900 who live here: 3,000 head out to work and 880 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
Where Lower Heidelberg Township’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lower Heidelberg Township is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #19 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lower Heidelberg Township could be anywhere from A to A+.
Time on the road from Lower Heidelberg Township: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lower Heidelberg Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,944 commuters (the 16% 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.
Lower Heidelberg Township on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,990 residents head out to work, 106 work right here, and 883 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,800 people are in Lower Heidelberg Township on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.32 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.
Where the trip to work from Lower Heidelberg Township ends
Where Lower Heidelberg Township clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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.
The kinds of work in Lower Heidelberg Township
989 jobs are based in Lower Heidelberg Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lower Heidelberg Township, 2014 → 2024: 1,113 → 989. 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 Lower Heidelberg Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Lower Heidelberg Township commutes
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.
For most of Lower Heidelberg Township, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lower Heidelberg Township is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns, #539 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.6% across Pennsylvania, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,513 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). 1.1% of Lower Heidelberg Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lower Heidelberg Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
78th of 3,229: where Lower Heidelberg Township ranks among U.S. towns of 4,800 to 9,300
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | West Vincent Township PA | 6,885 | $203K | 1.4% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Upper Nazareth Township PA | 8,521 | $122K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Bellbrook OH | 7,563 | $112K | 3.3% | 0.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 77 | London Grove Township PA | 9,047 | $176K | 1.8% | 0.3% | 5% | A+ |
| 78 | Lower Heidelberg Township PA | 6,901 | $123K | 1.8% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| 79 | Moorefield VA | 6,123 | $205K | 2.8% | 3.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 80 | Glencoe IL | 8,724 | $249K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Upper Makefield Township PA | 8,848 | $213K | 2.1% | 3.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,229 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Lower Heidelberg Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
The towns next door employ 14% of Lower Heidelberg Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lower Heidelberg Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Heidelberg Township | – | A+ | B | 31 min | $123,476 |
| Heidelberg Township | under 2% | A− | B | 22 min | $85,000 |
| Spring Township | 9% | A | A− | 24 min | $94,837 |
| North Heidelberg Township | under 2% | A− | C− | 30 min | $92,500 |
| Bern Township | 3% | A+ | C+ | 24 min | $117,897 |
| Wernersville | under 2% | A− | A− | 24 min | $75,750 |
| Sinking Spring | under 2% | A | B− | 23 min | $82,500 |
| South Heidelberg Township | 2% | A | C | 25 min | $110,615 |
| Penn Township | under 2% | A | B− | 29 min | $97,167 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Spring Township. Darker towns draw more of Lower Heidelberg Township’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 Lower Heidelberg Township: questions
What is the median household income in Lower Heidelberg Township?
$123,476 (±$23,547) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lower Heidelberg Township?
1.8%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lower Heidelberg Township?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lower Heidelberg Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Reading (9%, 7 mi), Spring Township (9%, 3 mi), Wyomissing (8%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lower Heidelberg Township walkable?
Lower Heidelberg Township is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lower Heidelberg Township 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 Lower Heidelberg Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lower Heidelberg Township
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.