Photo: Shuvaev · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Mount Penn (1.0%) is lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Mount Penn is better than 65% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (A). Only 2% work in Mount Penn itself; outside it, Reading draws the most (15%, 2 miles). The trip to work takes 21 minutes on average (Pennsylvania 26, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Mount Penn and work: the main findings
Mount Penn and Reading trade workers both ways
Reading is the top workplace for Mount Penn residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Mount Penn come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Mount Penn are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker, and quicker than any town next door (24 to 28 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Mount Penn empties out on a workday
About 2,200 people are in Mount Penn on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than the 3,300 who live here: 1,500 head out to work and 420 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Mount Penn’s grade explained
Unemployment holds Mount Penn’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (14.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mount Penn could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The places Mount Penn commutes to
Where Mount Penn clocks in
15% of workers
6% 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 21 minutes to work from Mount Penn
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mount Penn workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,742 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.
The daily flow of workers through Mount Penn
On a workday 1,454 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 421 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Mount Penn on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.31 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 2023, primary jobs.
Services make up most of the work in Mount Penn
454 jobs are based in Mount Penn.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mount Penn, 2013 → 2023: 452 → 454. 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 Mount Penn’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Mount Penn works
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.
Mount Penn is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,966 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). 10.9% of Mount Penn households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mount Penn’s commuters take a bus or train.
Mount Penn is 1,446th of 4,453 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Wallace Township PA | 3,759 | $183K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | West Pikeland Township PA | 4,045 | $226K | 0.9% | 2.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Trappe PA | 4,061 | $127K | 4.5% | 1.0% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,444 | Crescent Township PA | 2,369 | $82K | 4.8% | 6.6% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,445 | Rineyville KY | 2,470 | $85K | 3.9% | 4.9% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,446 | Mount Penn PA | 3,269 | $64K | 14.6% | 1.0% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,447 | Freemansburg PA | 3,003 | $89K | 10.4% | 4.7% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,448 | Knowlton Township NJ | 2,947 | $98K | 3.5% | 7.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | 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 Mount Penn, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
20% of Mount Penn works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mount Penn workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Penn | – | B+ | A | 21 min | $63,512 |
| Lower Alsace Township | under 3% | A− | B+ | 27 min | $76,250 |
| Pennside | under 3% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| St. Lawrence | under 3% | B+ | B | 27 min | $85,625 |
| Reading | 15% | C− | A | 24 min | $44,091 |
| Exeter Township | 5% | B+ | C+ | 25 min | $100,083 |
Same-state neighbors only. Pennside: 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 Reading. Darker towns draw more of Mount Penn’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 Mount Penn: questions
What is the median household income in Mount Penn?
$63,512 (±$8,441) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mount Penn?
14.6%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mount Penn?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mount Penn work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Reading (15%, 2 mi), Wyomissing (6%, 4 mi), Exeter Township (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mount Penn walkable?
Mount Penn is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mount Penn without a car?
0% 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 Mount Penn, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mount Penn
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.