Photo: Vasiliymeshko · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Nanticoke works elsewhere
Household incomes here are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns. Employers in Nanticoke report 1,900 jobs, against 4,084 working residents. Jobs and income earn Nanticoke C−; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Nanticoke at work: what stands out
Why Nanticoke gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Nanticoke is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #951 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Nanticoke’s grade up (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.7%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Nanticoke could be anywhere from D to C+.
From Nanticoke, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nanticoke workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,315 commuters (the 9% 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 commute in and out of Nanticoke
On a workday 3,698 residents head out to work, 386 work right here, and 1,514 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,500 people are in Nanticoke on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
14% of working residents work in Wilkes-Barre
Where Nanticoke clocks in
14% 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 Nanticoke
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nanticoke, 2013 → 2023: 2,028 → 1,900. 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 Nanticoke’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Nanticoke commutes
About 18% 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.
Nanticoke is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Nanticoke is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #359 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Nanticoke 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 4,756 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). 12.5% of Nanticoke households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Nanticoke’s commuters take a bus or train.
Nanticoke places 2,478th of 2,878 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Bethel Township PA | 9,774 | $177K | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Upper Nazareth Township PA | 8,521 | $122K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Upper Uwchlan Township PA | 13,681 | $191K | 1.6% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,476 | Denison IA | 8,214 | $66K | 17.5% | 5.4% | 53% | C− |
| 2,477 | Miami OK | 12,893 | $46K | 22.6% | 3.0% | 35% | C− |
| 2,478 | Nanticoke PA | 10,712 | $57K | 19.4% | 7.7% | 9% | C− |
| 2,479 | Boonville MO | 7,867 | $56K | 14.3% | 5.8% | 29% | C− |
| 2,480 | Park Hills MO | 8,753 | $53K | 14.4% | 5.9% | 13% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | 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 Nanticoke, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
12% of Nanticoke works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Nanticoke workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nanticoke | – | C− | A− | 21 min | $57,462 |
| Newport Township | under 2% | C+ | C | 25 min | $57,541 |
| Plymouth Township | under 2% | B− | D | 25 min | $80,288 |
| Sheatown | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| West Nanticoke | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Hanover Township | 12% | C | A− | 19 min | $61,056 |
Same-state neighbors only. Sheatown and West Nanticoke: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Hanover Township. Darker towns draw more of Nanticoke’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 Nanticoke: questions
What is the median household income in Nanticoke?
$57,462 (±$6,160) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nanticoke?
19.4%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nanticoke?
21 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nanticoke work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilkes-Barre (14%, 7 mi), Hanover Township (12%, 3 mi), Plains Township (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Nanticoke walkable?
Nanticoke is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Nanticoke without a car?
1% 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 Nanticoke, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nanticoke
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.