Photo: Smallbones · CC BY-SA 3.0At 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
Work in Oley Township, in a few figures
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.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oley Township could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Commuting from Oley Township: about 27 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oley Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
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.
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.
About 3,000 people are in Oley Township on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
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.
Commuting out of Oley Township: the destinations
Where Oley Township clocks in
6% of workers
4% 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.
What the 1,042 jobs in Oley Township are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
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.
Half of Oley Township commutes less than 12 miles
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.
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.
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.
How Oley Township ranks: 496th of 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Wallace Township PA | 3,759 | $183K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Pocopson Township PA | 4,480 | $230K | 1.3% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 494 | Wood Township IN | 2,978 | $87K | 4.4% | 0.1% | 4% | A |
| 495 | Chisago Lake Township MN | 4,958 | $133K | 3.9% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| 496 | Oley Township PA | 3,874 | $91K | 6.7% | 1.1% | 8% | A |
| 497 | Boonsboro MD | 3,867 | $96K | 3.3% | 2.6% | 3% | A |
| 498 | Fond du Lac WI | 3,780 | $106K | 4.7% | 2.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | 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 Oley Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
The towns around Oley Township
The biggest share goes to Exeter Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oley Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oley Township | – | A | B+ | 27 min | $90,750 |
| Exeter Township | 3% | B+ | C+ | 25 min | $100,083 |
| Earl Township | under 2% | A− | D | 28 min | $100,398 |
| Amity Township | 2% | A− | B− | 32 min | $118,296 |
| Pike Township | under 2% | A | C | 36 min | $105,729 |
| Ruscombmanor Township | under 2% | B+ | D− | 34 min | $103,125 |
| Alsace Township | under 2% | A− | C+ | 21 min | $71,103 |
| Rockland Township | under 2% | A− | D | 27 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.
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 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.
More of Oley Township
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.