Photo: Lee Paxton · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Plum commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
24% of workers work from home, next to 16% for Pennsylvania as a whole. 6,143 jobs are based in Plum for 12,206 working residents. Jobs and income earn Plum A; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Plum
A lot of Plum works from home
24% of Plum workers work from home, against 16% across Pennsylvania. Time on the road ↓
Plum draws workers from far and wide
The 6,143 jobs in Plum are filled from a wide area. Plum’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 24%; the other 58% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Plum 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.
What’s behind Plum’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Plum is better than 92% of U.S. towns, #129 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.6%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Plum could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The daily trip from Plum: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plum workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,740 commuters (the 24% 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.
27% of working residents work in Pittsburgh
Where Plum clocks in
27% of workers
8% 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.
Who leaves Plum for work, and who comes in
On a workday 11,100 residents head out to work, 1,106 work right here, and 5,037 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Plum on a workday afternoon, 23% 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.
The kinds of work in Plum
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plum, 2013 → 2023: 7,088 → 6,143. 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 Plum’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Plum to work
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.
In Plum, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Plum is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #475 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Plum 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 14,076 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 24% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.1% of Plum households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Plum’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,576 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000, Plum comes 214th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | West Whiteland Township PA | 20,826 | $133K | 3.0% | 1.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | South Fayette Township PA | 18,648 | $124K | 3.6% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 212 | Pickerington OH | 26,333 | $112K | 3.6% | 3.5% | 6% | A |
| 213 | Perry Hall MD | 29,105 | $106K | 6.8% | 2.0% | 4% | A |
| 214 | Plum PA | 26,225 | $99K | 3.6% | 2.8% | 9% | A |
| 215 | Spring Township PA | 28,873 | $95K | 5.1% | 2.0% | 10% | A |
| 216 | Eagle ID | 34,658 | $123K | 6.1% | 2.0% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Plum, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Work next door: 14% of Plum’s workers
The biggest share goes to Monroeville (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Plum workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plum | – | A | B | 31 min | $98,705 |
| Penn Hills | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Monroeville | 8% | B | A− | 25 min | $79,218 |
| Lower Burrell | under 1% | B+ | B | 26 min | $84,602 |
| Oakmont | 2% | B+ | A | 26 min | $92,782 |
| Upper Burrell Township | under 1% | A− | C− | 32 min | $89,229 |
| Murrysville | 4% | A | C+ | 29 min | $121,823 |
| Springdale | under 1% | B+ | A | 27 min | $65,893 |
| Harmar Township | under 1% | B | A | 25 min | $65,075 |
| Cheswick | under 1% | A− | A− | 26 min | $75,000 |
| Springdale Township | under 1% | B− | C+ | 27 min | $62,024 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Plum’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 Plum: questions
What is the median household income in Plum?
$98,705 (±$4,362) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plum?
3.6%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plum?
31 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plum work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsburgh (27%, 13 mi), Monroeville (8%, 5 mi), Murrysville (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Plum walkable?
Plum is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plum without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Plum, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plum
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.