Photo: Jayu from Harrisburg, PA, U.S.A. · CC BY-SA 2.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Palmyra works elsewhere
Only 6% work in Palmyra; the top destination outside it is Derry Township (23%, 4 miles). 1,963 jobs are based in Palmyra; 3,919 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Palmyra B; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Palmyra at work: what stands out
A lot of Palmyra works one town over
27% of working residents work in a town that borders Palmyra: Derry Township (23%) and North Londonderry Township (4%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Palmyra are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Inside Palmyra’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palmyra is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #555 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Palmyra’s grade up (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (11.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palmyra could be anywhere from C+ to A.
The daily trip from Palmyra: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palmyra workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,418 commuters (the 20% 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 Palmyra
On a workday 3,690 residents head out to work, 229 work right here, and 1,734 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,800 people are in Palmyra on a workday afternoon, 25% 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.
Commuting out of Palmyra: the destinations
Where Palmyra clocks in
23% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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 Palmyra’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palmyra, 2013 → 2023: 2,039 → 1,963. 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 Palmyra’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Palmyra commutes
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.
Palmyra is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palmyra is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #319 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.6% across Pennsylvania.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,263 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). 8.6% of Palmyra households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Palmyra’s commuters take a bus or train.
Palmyra is 1,428th of 3,091 U.S. towns of 5,400 to 10,500 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | West Vincent Township PA | 6,885 | $203K | 1.4% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Bethel Township PA | 9,774 | $177K | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Upper Nazareth Township PA | 8,521 | $122K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,426 | Lebanon Township NJ | 6,229 | $130K | 7.9% | 8.2% | 4% | B |
| 1,427 | Tequesta FL | 6,299 | $98K | 7.7% | 6.2% | 7% | B |
| 1,428 | Palmyra PA | 7,762 | $77K | 11.6% | 3.5% | 6% | B |
| 1,429 | Black Mountain NC | 8,491 | $77K | 5.9% | 3.9% | 17% | B |
| 1,430 | Newstead NY | 8,695 | $71K | 6.6% | 4.3% | 18% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,091 | 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 Palmyra, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
The towns next door employ 27% of Palmyra
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palmyra workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmyra | – | B | A− | 20 min | $77,469 |
| North Londonderry Township | 4% | A | B+ | 20 min | $108,548 |
| Palmdale | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Derry Township | 23% | B+ | A | 19 min | $97,025 |
Same-state neighbors only. Palmdale: 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 Derry Township. Darker towns draw more of Palmyra’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 Palmyra: questions
What is the median household income in Palmyra?
$77,469 (±$6,733) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palmyra?
11.6%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palmyra?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palmyra work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Derry Township (23%, 4 mi), Harrisburg (4%, 16 mi), North Londonderry Township (4%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palmyra walkable?
Palmyra is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palmyra without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palmyra, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palmyra
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.