Photo: Public domain · Public domainAlmost no one in Penn Township’s labor force is looking for work
Measured by household income, Penn Township is behind 75% of U.S. towns. Penn Township grades A− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 7% work in Penn Township; the top destination outside it is Harrisburg (10%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Penn Township
Penn Township trades workers with the towns around it
Penn Township has about as many jobs (1,573) as working residents (1,392), but they are mostly different people: 1,288 residents leave for work each day while 1,469 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Penn Township are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
66% of the jobs in Penn Township are in trade, transport and utilities, against 28% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Penn Township
62% of Penn Township residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Penn Township pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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.
Penn Township’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Penn Township is better than 78% of U.S. towns, #337 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Unemployment holds Penn Township’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($59,053, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Penn Township could be anywhere from B to A.
How a workday changes Penn Township
On a workday 1,288 residents head out to work, 104 work right here, and 1,469 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.13 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What the 1,573 jobs in Penn Township are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Penn Township, 2013 → 2023: 1,329 → 1,573. 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 Penn Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of Penn Township to work: where people go
Where Penn Township clocks in
10% of workers
6% 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.
How long Penn Township spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Penn Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,282 commuters (the 12% 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 far Penn Township goes to work
About 17% 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.
Getting around Penn Township: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Penn Township is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns, #902 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Penn Township 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 1,450 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). 3.1% of Penn Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Penn Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
919th of 4,698: where Penn Township ranks among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Wallace Township PA | 3,759 | $183K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | West Pikeland Township PA | 4,045 | $226K | 0.9% | 2.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 917 | Luxemburg WI | 2,784 | $78K | 5.6% | 1.9% | 13% | A− |
| 918 | Pike Township OH | 3,724 | $96K | 7.3% | 2.8% | 4% | A− |
| 919 | Penn Township PA | 3,179 | $59K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 7% | A− |
| 920 | Harmony Township PA | 3,071 | $71K | 5.3% | 2.8% | 3% | A− |
| 921 | Waverly MN | 2,293 | $112K | 10.6% | 2.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | 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 Penn Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Penn Township and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Penn Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Township | – | A− | C− | 27 min | $59,053 |
| Wheatfield Township | under 3% | B− | D− | 31 min | $94,200 |
| Middle Paxton Township | under 3% | A− | D | 25 min | $80,391 |
| Rye Township | under 3% | A | C | 30 min | $102,159 |
| Duncannon | under 3% | C+ | A− | 26 min | $51,103 |
| Reed Township | under 3% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Marysville | under 3% | B+ | C+ | 23 min | $68,889 |
| Watts Township | under 3% | A− | D | 31 min | $94,375 |
Same-state neighbors only. Reed Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Penn 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 Penn Township: questions
What is the median household income in Penn Township?
$59,053 (±$10,856) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Penn Township?
3.5%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Penn Township?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Penn Township work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harrisburg (10%, 10 mi), Hampden Township (6%, 7 mi), Susquehanna Township (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Penn Township walkable?
Penn Township is more walkable than 21% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Penn Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Penn Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Penn 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.