Photo: Marshallstack380 · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs and earnings in Mountain Top, and the trip to work
22% of workers work from home (Pennsylvania 16%). About one in seven stay in Mountain Top for work; outside it, Wilkes-Barre is the main destination (15%, 8 miles). At 27 minutes each way, commutes from Mountain Top run about the Pennsylvania average.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Mountain Top at work: what stands out
Mountain Top trades workers with the towns around it
Mountain Top has about as many jobs (5,307) as working residents (4,931), but they are mostly different people: 4,261 residents leave for work each day while 4,637 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Mountain Top are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Mountain Top makes and builds things
54% of the jobs based in Mountain Top are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Mountain Top residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 15%. The jobs ↓
Mountain Top has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Mountain Top went from 3,588 in 2013 to 5,307 in 2023, +48%. The jobs ↓
Mountain Top draws workers from far and wide
The 5,307 jobs in Mountain Top are filled from a wide area. Mountain Top’s own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 29%; the other 58% come from many towns beyond those. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Who works in Mountain Top, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 4,261 residents head out to work, 670 work right here, and 4,637 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.
Mountain Top works in goods: 54% of its jobs
5,307 jobs are based in Mountain Top.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mountain Top, 2013 → 2023: 3,588 → 5,307. 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 Mountain Top’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Mountain Top’s residents
Where Mountain Top clocks in
15% of workers
10% 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 trip to work from Mountain Top: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mountain Top workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,670 commuters (the 22% 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.
Where in the region Mountain Top works
About 17% 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.
Mountain Top and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mountain Top workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Top | – | — | — | 27 min | $109,535 |
| Rice Township | under 2% | A | C | 26 min | $110,511 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mountain Top’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 Mountain Top: questions
What is the median household income in Mountain Top?
$109,535 (±$9,100) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mountain Top?
5.8%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mountain Top?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mountain Top work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilkes-Barre (15%, 8 mi), Wright Township (10%, 1 mi), Plains Township (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mountain Top without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mountain Top, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mountain Top
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.