Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Polk Township works elsewhere
Only 7% work in Polk Township; the top destination outside it is Chestnuthill Township (9%, 5 miles). 832 jobs are based in Polk Township, against 3,025 working residents. For jobs and income Polk Township is better than 44% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (C).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Polk Township in brief
Polk Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 26 across Pennsylvania. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 107 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Polk Township is a place people come home to
There are 832 jobs based in Polk Township, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Polk Township has about 5,200 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Polk Township’s grade explained
Household income holds Polk Township’s grade up ($80,625, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Polk Township could be anywhere from C− to A−.
The trip to work from Polk Township: about 40 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Polk Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,772 commuters (the 11% 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 commute in and out of Polk Township
On a workday 2,827 residents head out to work, 198 work right here, and 634 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Polk Township on a workday afternoon, 30% 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 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Polk Township: the destinations
Where Polk Township clocks in
9% 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.
Jobs in Polk Township: what the 832 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Polk Township, 2014 → 2024: 721 → 832. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Polk Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Polk Township’s workers travel
About 25% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Polk Township, most people drive to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.6% across Pennsylvania, on an EPA index of 4.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,105 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.2% of Polk Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Polk Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,951st of 3,083: where Polk Township ranks among U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,000
| # | 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% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Bethel Township PA | 9,774 | $177K | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Upper Nazareth Township PA | 8,521 | $122K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,949 | Bath Township OH | 9,292 | $63K | 12.2% | 3.4% | 14% | C+ |
| 1,950 | Fenton NY | 6,206 | $73K | 12.2% | 4.7% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,951 | Polk Township PA | 7,414 | $81K | 10.3% | 4.4% | 7% | C+ |
| 1,952 | Conemaugh Township PA | 6,563 | $75K | 5.4% | 8.9% | 10% | C+ |
| 1,953 | Village of Oak Creek (Big Park) AZ | 6,356 | $81K | 11.9% | 2.6% | 13% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Polk Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Polk Township and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Polk Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polk Township | – | C+ | C | 40 min | $80,625 |
| Chestnuthill Township | 9% | B− | C | 40 min | $89,842 |
| Penn Forest Township | under 2% | C | C | 42 min | $67,045 |
| Eldred Township | under 2% | B | C+ | 34 min | $70,526 |
| Indian Mountain Lake | under 2% | — | — | 42 min | — |
| Tunkhannock Township | under 2% | C+ | C | 36 min | $69,700 |
Same-state neighbors only. Indian Mountain Lake: 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 Chestnuthill Township. Darker towns draw more of Polk 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 2024, 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 Polk Township: questions
What is the median household income in Polk Township?
$80,625 (±$12,801) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Polk Township?
10.3%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Polk Township?
40 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Polk Township work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chestnuthill Township (9%, 5 mi), Pocono Township (4%, 13 mi), Stroud Township (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Polk Township walkable?
Polk Township is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Polk Township 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 Polk Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Polk Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.