Photo: Pubdog · Public domainRidgway has lower household incomes than 84% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Ridgway D; getting around on foot earns it A−. Below the poverty line: 13.0% of residents, next to 11.7% for Pennsylvania as a whole. 8% of workers work from home, against 16% across Pennsylvania.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Ridgway apart
Ridgway and St. Marys trade workers both ways
St. Marys is the top workplace for Ridgway residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Ridgway come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Ridgway 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 ↓
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.
Why Ridgway gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ridgway is better than 13% of U.S. towns, #1,002 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The poverty rate holds Ridgway’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($52,863, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ridgway could be anywhere from D− to B−.
19% of working residents work in St. Marys
Where Ridgway clocks in
19% of workers
19% 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.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Ridgway
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ridgway workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,520 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.
Who leaves Ridgway for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,441 residents head out to work, 333 work right here, and 830 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Ridgway on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.66 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 2024, primary jobs.
Inside Ridgway’s 1,163 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ridgway, 2014 → 2024: 1,282 → 1,163. 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 Ridgway’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Ridgway’s workers travel
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Ridgway, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ridgway is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #337 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.6% across Pennsylvania.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,650 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). 9.2% of Ridgway households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Ridgway’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,364 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,300, Ridgway comes 3,850th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Wallace Township PA | 3,759 | $183K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Pocopson Township PA | 4,480 | $230K | 1.3% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,848 | Marietta Township OH | 4,176 | $56K | 15.0% | 7.9% | 8% | D |
| 3,849 | Sparks TX | 4,134 | $35K | 51.7% | 9.6% | 1% | D |
| 3,850 | Ridgway PA | 3,893 | $53K | 13.0% | 6.7% | 19% | D |
| 3,851 | San Saba TX | 3,126 | $50K | 15.2% | 4.3% | 23% | D |
| 3,852 | East Eldorado Township IL | 5,182 | $51K | 19.0% | 5.1% | 23% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,364 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Ridgway, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
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 Ridgway: questions
What is the median household income in Ridgway?
$52,863 (±$5,784) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ridgway?
13.0%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ridgway?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ridgway work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Marys (19%, 11 mi), Ridgway Township (19%, 1 mi), DuBois (4%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Ridgway walkable?
Ridgway is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ridgway without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ridgway, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ridgway
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.