Plains Township has 2.7 jobs for every working resident: 11,252 people commute in to work
About one in seven work in Plains Township itself; outside it, Wilkes-Barre draws the most (17%, 3 miles). 11,899 jobs are based in Plains Township for 4,342 working residents. For jobs and income Plains Township is better than 35% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Plains Township, in brief
Plains Township is where the jobs are
Plains Township has 11,899 jobs, 2.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 18,000 people are in town, 75% more than the 10,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Plains Township draws workers from far and wide
The 11,899 jobs in Plains Township are filled from a wide area. Plains Township’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 29%; the other 66% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Plains Township and Wilkes-Barre trade workers both ways
Wilkes-Barre is the top workplace for Plains Township residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Plains Township come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Plains Township 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 ↓
Most Plains Township residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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.
The figures behind Plains Township’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Plains Township’s grade up (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.2%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Plains Township could be anywhere from C− to B.
Plains Township on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,695 residents head out to work and 647 work right here.
About 18,000 people are in Plains Township on a workday afternoon, 75% more 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.
Who travels to work in Plains Township, and from where
Where Plains Township clocks in
17% 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.
How long Plains Township spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plains Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,201 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.
Plains Township’s commute, mile by mile
About 18% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Plains Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plains Township, 2013 → 2023: 11,658 → 11,899. 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 Plains Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Plains Township, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,792 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). 5.8% of Plains Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Plains Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,101st of 2,878: where Plains Township ranks among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Bethel Township PA | 9,774 | $177K | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Upper Nazareth Township PA | 8,521 | $122K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Upper Uwchlan Township PA | 13,681 | $191K | 1.6% | 2.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,099 | Oroville East CA | 7,504 | $95K | 8.7% | 12.4% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,100 | Sedro-Woolley WA | 13,308 | $81K | 15.7% | 4.8% | 13% | C+ |
| 2,101 | Plains Township PA | 10,010 | $74K | 16.8% | 7.2% | 15% | C+ |
| 2,102 | Monahans TX | 7,427 | $71K | 15.6% | 3.0% | 31% | C+ |
| 2,103 | Monroe Township OH | 7,922 | $93K | 12.1% | 11.6% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | 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 Plains Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
The towns next door employ 23% of Plains Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Plains Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plains Township | – | C+ | B | 20 min | $73,790 |
| Wilkes-Barre | 17% | C− | A | 21 min | $48,515 |
| Jenkins Township | 3% | C+ | C | 19 min | $54,878 |
| Forty Fort | under 2% | C+ | B+ | 20 min | $74,432 |
| Kingston | 3% | C | A | 22 min | $55,347 |
| Wyoming | under 2% | B+ | C+ | 17 min | $71,950 |
| Bear Creek Township | under 2% | B | D− | 30 min | $88,333 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wilkes-Barre. Darker towns draw more of Plains 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 Plains Township: questions
What is the median household income in Plains Township?
$73,790 (±$10,022) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plains Township?
16.8%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plains Township?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plains Township work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wilkes-Barre (17%, 3 mi), Scranton (4%, 12 mi), Hanover Township (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Plains Township walkable?
Plains Township is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plains Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Plains Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plains 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.