Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMore people are out of work in Parks Township (9.0%) than in 92% of U.S. towns
24.3% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania. Parks Township grades C− for jobs and income and D for walkability. Only 6% stay in Parks Township for work; outside it, Pittsburgh is the main destination (9%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Parks Township in brief
Parks Township makes and builds things
83% of the jobs based in Parks Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Parks Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
Parks Township’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Parks Township is Pittsburgh, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (105) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Parks Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 26 across Pennsylvania. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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.
How Parks Township earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Parks Township is better than 16% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Parks Township’s grade up (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Parks Township could be anywhere from D to B−.
Factories, building and farms: 83% of the jobs in Parks Township
751 jobs are based in Parks Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Parks Township, 2013 → 2023: 602 → 751. 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 Parks Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Parks Township 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.
About 31 minutes each way for Parks Township’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Parks Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 900 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.
A workday in Parks Township: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,047 residents head out to work, 62 work right here, and 689 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Parks Township on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.68 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.
Where people from Parks Township work
Where Parks Township clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
For most of Parks Township, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Parks Township is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 994 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). 11.7% of Parks Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Parks Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Parks Township is 4,018th of 4,995 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Churchill PA | 3,014 | $107K | 1.9% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Thornbury Township PA | 3,165 | $172K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,016 | Portage PA | 2,344 | $46K | 23.2% | 5.0% | 7% | C− |
| 4,017 | Johnsburg NY | 2,132 | $61K | 10.5% | 3.6% | 31% | C− |
| 4,018 | Parks Township PA | 2,388 | $67K | 24.3% | 9.0% | 6% | C− |
| 4,019 | Ledbetter KY | 1,785 | $60K | 27.7% | 9.8% | 4% | C− |
| 4,020 | Oak Trail Shores TX | 3,040 | $34K | 16.8% | 5.4% | <1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Parks Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Parks Township and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Allegheny Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Parks Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parks Township | – | C− | D | 31 min | $66,944 |
| Gilpin Township | under 2% | B | C− | 28 min | $72,614 |
| Vandergrift | 4% | D | A | 25 min | $50,901 |
| Kiskiminetas Township | under 2% | B− | C− | 28 min | $64,896 |
| Allegheny Township | 5% | B | C+ | 33 min | $79,894 |
| Bethel Township | under 2% | C+ | C− | 34 min | $59,205 |
| Hyde Park | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Burrell Township | under 2% | — | — | 38 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Hyde Park and Burrell Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Parks 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 Parks Township: questions
What is the median household income in Parks Township?
$66,944 (±$7,247) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Parks Township?
24.3%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Parks Township?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Parks Township work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsburgh (9%, 26 mi), Allegheny Township (5%, 5 mi), Washington Township (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Parks Township walkable?
Parks Township is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Parks Township without a car?
0% 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 Parks Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Parks 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.