Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Oley Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Milloth House 2 Oley Village BerksCo PAPhoto: Smallbones · CC BY-SA 3.0
Jobs & commute in Oley Township

At 1.1%, unemployment in Oley Township is lower than in 94% of U.S. towns

Working from home is the commute for 26% of workers; Pennsylvania has 16%. The two grades for Oley Township are A for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in ten work in Oley Township itself; outside it, Reading draws the most (6%, 9 miles).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

What stands out

Work in Oley Township, in a few figures

Jobs & income grade

How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Oley Township

On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oley Township is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #193 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Unemployment is its strongest input; household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($90,750, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.

Household income $90,750 (±$13,219) · PA $77,971 · U.S. $80,734Higher than 69% of U.S. towns
Poverty 6.7% · PA 11.7% · U.S. 12.5%Lower than 69% of U.S. towns
Unemployment 1.1% (±1.3) · PA 5.3% · U.S. 5.2%Lower than 94% of U.S. towns
Job access by car EPA, jobs within a 45-minute driveMore than 75% of U.S. towns
Pennsylvania towns we grade 1,035 towns#193 of 1,035
B+A+

A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oley Township could be anywhere from B+ to A+.

How TownRatings grades jobs & income →

★ What stands out · Time on the road

Commuting from Oley Township: about 27 minutes a trip

A year of commuting
203 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Oley Township27 min
Pennsylvania26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
26%

of Oley Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.

About 3 in 10
How Oley Township gets to work
85%Drive alone
9%Carpool
1%Transit
5%Walk
1%Other

Share of the 1,481 commuters (the 26% 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.

Day and night

How a workday changes Oley Township

On a workday 1,799 residents head out to work, 159 work right here, and 883 people come in from elsewhere.

1,799live here, work elsewhere
159live and work here
883work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night3,900
Workday3,000
3,900live here− 1,800head out to work+ 880come in to work= 3,000on a workday

About 3,000 people are in Oley Township on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.53jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.53 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.

The commute map

Commuting out of Oley Township: the destinations

West Reading: 58 residents work here (3%)Reading: 111 residents work here (6%)Philadelphia: 41 residents work here (2%)Bern Township: 34 residents work here (2%)Spring TownshipAlsace TownshipOley TownshipAmity Township: 47 residents work here (2%)Upper Macungie Township: 42 residents work here (2%)Maidencreek TownshipMuhlenberg Township: 65 residents work here (3%)Exeter Township: 57 residents work here (3%)Maxatawny Township: 75 residents work here (4%)Ruscombmanor TownshipRockland TownshipPike TownshipEarl TownshipReadingMaxatawny TownshipMuhlenberg TownshipWest ReadingExeter TownshipAmity TownshipOley Township
1
Oley Township (in town)right here
8%159
2
Reading8.9 mi away
6%111
3
Maxatawny Township11.1 mi away
4%75
43%65
5
West Reading10 mi away
3%58
6
Exeter Township5.3 mi away
3%57
7
Amity Township5.2 mi away
2%47
82%42
9
Philadelphia41.3 mi away
2%41
10
Bern Township12.6 mi away
2%34
Everywhere elseother towns and states
65%1,269
The top trips

Where Oley Township clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

What the 1,042 jobs in Oley Township are

Jobs based in Oley TownshipJobs Oley Township residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms21%24%
Trade, transport & utilities30%22%
Services: health, schools, offices49%54%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less19%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month21%20%
Over $3,333 a month59%67%

Who does it

29 or younger21%20%
30 to 5448%51%
55 and older31%30%
+12%

Jobs based in Oley Township, 2013 → 2023: 930 → 1,042. 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 Oley Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.

How far

Half of Oley Township commutes less than 12 miles

10 mi25 mi50 miReading: 6% · 8.9 miMaxatawny Township: 4% · 11.1 miMuhlenberg Township: 3% · 8.9 miWest Reading: 3% · 10 miExeter Township: 3% · 5.3 miAmity Township: 2% · 5.2 miUpper Macungie Township: 2% · 15.8 miPhiladelphia: 2% · 41.3 miBern Township: 2% · 12.6 miReading 6%Maxatawny Township 4%Muhlenberg Township 3%West Reading 3%Exeter Township 3%Oley Township
Oley TownshipTop destinations (size = commuters)
39%Under 10 mi772 residents
29%10–24 mi575 residents
23%25–50 mi453 residents
8%Over 50 mi155 residents

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.

Getting around · Walkability grade

Oley Township is a driving town

On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oley Township is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #389 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.6% across Pennsylvania, on an EPA index of 7.2.

EPA walkability index 7.2 of 20 · typical PA town 6.7 · U.S. 6.9Higher than 54% of U.S. towns
Walk, bike or transit 5.4% of commuters · PA 8.6% · U.S. 7.1%Higher than 78% of U.S. towns
Pennsylvania towns we grade 1,035 towns#389 of 1,035
B+B+

A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,000 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). 1.8% of Oley Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Oley Township’s commuters take a bus or train.

Towns its size

How Oley Township ranks: 496th of 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200

#TownPeopleHousehold incomePovertyUnemploymentWork in townGrade
1Riverwoods IL3,766$249K0.7%0.7%2%A+
2Mission Hills KS3,522$250K1.2%0.3%2%A+
3Ho-Ho-Kus NJ4,313$250K0.0%1.7%6%A+
…
21Wallace Township PA3,759$183K1.9%0.0%3%A+
…
26Edgmont Township PA4,706$137K2.4%1.1%3%A+
…
62Pocopson Township PA4,480$230K1.3%2.2%3%A+
…
494Wood Township IN2,978$87K4.4%0.1%4%A
495Chisago Lake Township MN4,958$133K3.9%3.5%1%A
496Oley Township PA3,874$91K6.7%1.1%8%A
497Boonsboro MD3,867$96K3.3%2.6%3%A
498Fond du Lac WI3,780$106K4.7%2.6%1%A
…
4,264Lake Isabella CA4,059$27K40.7%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 Oley Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.

Next door

The towns around Oley Township

The biggest share goes to Exeter Township (3%).

Jobs & commute next door

TownOley Township workers thereJobs & incomeWalkabilityCommuteHousehold income
Oley Township–AB+27 min$90,750
Exeter Township3%B+C+25 min$100,083
Earl Townshipunder 2%A−D28 min$100,398
Amity Township2%A−B−32 min$118,296
Pike Townshipunder 2%AC36 min$105,729
Ruscombmanor Townshipunder 2%B+D−34 min$103,125
Alsace Townshipunder 2%A−C+21 min$71,103
Rockland Townshipunder 2%A−D27 min$110,000

Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.

Darker towns draw more of Oley Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Oley Township: questions

What is the median household income in Oley Township?

$90,750 (±$13,219) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Oley Township?

6.7%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Oley Township?

27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Oley Township work?

8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Reading (6%, 9 mi), Maxatawny Township (4%, 11 mi), Muhlenberg Township (3%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Is Oley Township walkable?

Oley Township is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.

Can you get around Oley Township without a car?

1% 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 Oley Township, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Oley Township

Oley Township home →

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.