Photo: BigCheddah · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Reading trail those of 93% of U.S. towns
28.7% of residents live below the poverty line; Pennsylvania has 11.7%. Jobs and income earn Reading C−; getting around on foot earns it A. 6% of workers have no commute at all; Pennsylvania has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Reading at work: what stands out
No single place dominates Reading’s commute
The biggest draw, Muhlenberg Township, gets only 8% of working residents, and 53% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Reading residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
The jobs in Reading pay better than its residents’ jobs
65% of the jobs based in Reading pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 50% of the jobs Reading residents hold. 79% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Reading. 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.
Jobs & income in Reading: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Reading is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #988 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Reading’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (13.7%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Reading could be anywhere from D to C−.
8% of working residents work in Muhlenberg Township
Where Reading clocks in
8% of workers
5% 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.
65% of the jobs in Reading pay over $3,333 a month
25,056 jobs are based in Reading.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Reading, 2013 → 2023: 28,730 → 25,056. 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 Reading’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Reading: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 29,372 residents head out to work, 5,147 work right here, and 19,909 people come in from elsewhere.
About 86,000 people are in Reading on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.73 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Time on the road from Reading: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Reading workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 34,908 commuters (the 6% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Reading
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Reading
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Reading is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #191 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Reading 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 37,305 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). 23.3% of Reading households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Reading’s commuters take a bus or train.
Reading and other U.S. towns of 67,000 to 129,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 345 | Upper Darby Township PA | 85,458 | $71K | 14.4% | 8.9% | 7% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 359 | Bethlehem PA | 79,644 | $69K | 15.7% | 6.6% | 20% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 418 | Scranton PA | 75,514 | $51K | 23.0% | 5.4% | 31% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 452 | Merced CA | 99,724 | $63K | 23.9% | 11.3% | 31% | C− |
| 453 | Gary IN | 67,289 | $39K | 33.1% | 11.0% | 18% | C− |
| 454 | Reading PA | 95,832 | $44K | 28.7% | 13.7% | 15% | C− |
| 455 | Lawton OK | 90,503 | $54K | 21.1% | 8.1% | 55% | D |
| 456 | Gulfport MS | 76,506 | $50K | 22.8% | 9.1% | 42% | D |
| 457 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Reading, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
15% of Reading works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Muhlenberg Township (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Reading workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | – | C− | A | 24 min | $44,091 |
| Cumru Township | under 3% | A | B− | 23 min | $90,797 |
| West Reading | 3% | B− | A | 22 min | $65,885 |
| Grill | under 3% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Kenhorst | under 3% | A− | A | 23 min | $86,705 |
| Wyomissing | 4% | A | B+ | 20 min | $93,203 |
| Muhlenberg Township | 8% | B+ | B | 23 min | $88,069 |
| Lower Alsace Township | under 3% | A− | B+ | 27 min | $76,250 |
| Greenfields | under 3% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Bern Township | under 3% | A+ | C+ | 24 min | $117,897 |
| Hyde Park | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Grill, Greenfields and Hyde Park: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Reading’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 Reading: questions
What is the median household income in Reading?
$44,091 (±$3,478) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Reading?
28.7%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Reading?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Reading work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Muhlenberg Township (8%, 4 mi), Maxatawny Township (5%, 16 mi), Wyomissing (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Reading walkable?
Reading is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Reading without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 23% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Reading, from the people who make the trip.
More of Reading
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.