Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in McKees Rocks earn less than those in 95% of U.S. towns
32.1% of residents are in poverty, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania. The two grades for McKees Rocks are C− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 7.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 37.5 in Pittsburgh.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in McKees Rocks: the figures worth knowing
McKees Rocks trades workers with the towns around it
McKees Rocks has about as many jobs (2,442) as working residents (2,268), but they are mostly different people: 2,169 residents leave for work each day while 2,343 people come in. Only 4% of the jobs in McKees Rocks are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
McKees Rocks makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in McKees Rocks are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs McKees Rocks residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 8%. The jobs ↓
Most McKees Rocks residents work close to home
69% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
The jobs in McKees Rocks pay better than its residents’ jobs
65% of the jobs based in McKees Rocks pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 45% of the jobs McKees Rocks residents hold. 96% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside McKees Rocks. The jobs ↓
McKees Rocks and Pittsburgh trade workers both ways
Pittsburgh is the top workplace for McKees Rocks residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in McKees Rocks come from (13% 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.
Inside McKees Rocks’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, McKees Rocks is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #971 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds McKees Rocks’ grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, McKees Rocks could be anywhere from D to C+.
McKees Rocks by day and by night
On a workday 2,169 residents head out to work, 99 work right here, and 2,343 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 (1.08 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.
49% of the jobs in McKees Rocks make or build things
2,442 jobs are based in McKees Rocks.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McKees Rocks, 2013 → 2023: 2,737 → 2,442. 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 McKees Rocks’s own residents hold wherever they work.
McKees Rocks’ commute, mile by mile
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.
30% of working residents work in Pittsburgh
Where McKees Rocks clocks in
30% of workers
5% 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.
The daily trip from McKees Rocks: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McKees Rocks workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,111 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.
McKees Rocks 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, McKees Rocks is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #30 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place McKees Rocks 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 2,343 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 86% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% 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). 25.7% of McKees Rocks households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of McKees Rocks’ commuters take a bus or train.
McKees Rocks is 3,065th of 3,561 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,600 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | West Vincent Township PA | 6,885 | $203K | 1.4% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Pocopson Township PA | 4,480 | $230K | 1.3% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,063 | Brush CO | 5,337 | $73K | 14.2% | 7.7% | 19% | C− |
| 3,064 | Wellington KS | 7,541 | $50K | 16.4% | 7.0% | 36% | C− |
| 3,065 | McKees Rocks PA | 5,624 | $41K | 32.1% | 10.2% | 4% | C− |
| 3,066 | Buena Vista Township MI | 7,473 | $44K | 20.7% | 7.4% | 5% | C− |
| 3,067 | Commercial Township NJ | 4,767 | $56K | 19.6% | 5.8% | 5% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,561 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 McKees Rocks, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
34% of McKees Rocks works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Pittsburgh (30%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | McKees Rocks workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McKees Rocks | – | C− | A+ | 19 min | $41,131 |
| Pittsburgh | 30% | C+ | A+ | 23 min | $65,742 |
| Stowe Township | 2% | C− | A+ | 23 min | $52,971 |
| Kennedy Township | 2% | A− | B+ | 28 min | $87,384 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of McKees Rocks’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 McKees Rocks: questions
What is the median household income in McKees Rocks?
$41,131 (±$13,480) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McKees Rocks?
32.1%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McKees Rocks?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in McKees Rocks work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsburgh (30%, 5 mi), Robinson Township (5%, 4 mi), Moon Township (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is McKees Rocks walkable?
McKees Rocks is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 16.9 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McKees Rocks without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 26% of households have no car. 86% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from McKees Rocks, from the people who make the trip.
More of McKees Rocks
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.