Household incomes in Rankin trail those of 90% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 24.9% of residents, next to 11.7% across Pennsylvania. The two grades for Rankin are C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. 8% of workers have no commute at all, against 16% across Pennsylvania.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Rankin and work: the main findings
Rankin makes and builds things
81% of the jobs based in Rankin are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Rankin residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 5%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Rankin pay better than its residents’ jobs
77% of the jobs based in Rankin pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 47% of the jobs Rankin residents hold. 99% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Rankin. The jobs ↓
Most Rankin residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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; with 575 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Rankin’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Rankin is better than 30% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Rankin’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (10.4%) is left out: Rankin’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Rankin could be anywhere from C− to B−.
81% of the jobs in Rankin make or build things
542 jobs are based in Rankin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rankin, 2014 → 2024: 367 → 542. 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 Rankin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Rankin to work
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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Rankin
On a workday 568 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 535 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 (0.94 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
33% of working residents work in Pittsburgh
Where Rankin clocks in
33% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
A commute of about 29 minutes in Rankin
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rankin workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 778 commuters (the 8% 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.
Rankin is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rankin is among the most walkable U.S. towns. Both inputs place Rankin 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 846 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 57% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 51.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 42.9% of Rankin households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 29% of Rankin’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,401st of 5,509: where Rankin ranks among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 7% | A+ |
| 31 | Edgeworth PA | 1,611 | $203K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | West Conshohocken PA | 1,498 | $139K | 5.0% | 1.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,399 | Trappe MD | 1,517 | $61K | 9.3% | 9.0% | 2% | C |
| 3,400 | Tioga ND | 2,221 | $66K | 8.0% | 2.9% | 36% | C |
| 3,401 | Rankin PA | 1,975 | $48K | 24.9% | 10.4% | 1% | C |
| 3,402 | Delaware Township IN | 1,548 | $75K | 10.9% | 1.8% | 2% | C |
| 3,403 | East Bronson FL | 2,649 | $52K | 30.7% | 0.0% | <1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Rankin, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
How Rankin compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Braddock (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rankin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rankin | – | C | A+ | 29 min | $48,145 |
| Swissvale | under 2% | C | A+ | 25 min | $60,341 |
| Braddock | 2% | C | A+ | 31 min | $37,813 |
| North Braddock | under 2% | D | A+ | 31 min | $34,564 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rankin’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 Rankin: questions
What is the median household income in Rankin?
$48,145 (±$16,598) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rankin?
24.9%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rankin?
29 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rankin work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pittsburgh (33%, 5 mi), West Mifflin (3%, 4 mi), Penn Hills (2%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Rankin walkable?
Rankin is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.6 out of 20, and 31% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rankin without a car?
29% of commuters take transit and 43% of households have no car. 57% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rankin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rankin
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.