Households in Ridley Township earn more than those in 71% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 9.3% (Pennsylvania 11.7%). Ridley Township grades B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 37.7 in Philadelphia.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Ridley Township: the gist
Ridley Township and Philadelphia trade workers both ways
Philadelphia is the top workplace for Ridley Township residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Ridley Township come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Ridley Township draws workers from far and wide
The 10,654 jobs in Ridley Township are filled from a wide area. Ridley Township’s own residents hold 11% and the ten next-biggest home towns 30%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Ridley Township makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Ridley Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Ridley Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 12%. The jobs ↓
Most Ridley Township residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 7% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
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.
Inside Ridley Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ridley Township is better than 73% of U.S. towns, #419 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Ridley Township’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ridley Township could be anywhere from B to A.
22% of working residents work in Philadelphia
Where Ridley Township clocks in
22% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
Making and building: 37% of jobs based in Ridley Township
10,654 jobs are based in Ridley Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ridley Township, 2013 → 2023: 11,763 → 10,654. 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 Ridley Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Ridley Township commutes
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.
Ridley Township quiets down on a workday
On a workday 14,344 residents head out to work, 1,125 work right here, and 9,529 people come in from elsewhere.
About 26,000 people are in Ridley Township on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.69 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.
About 25 minutes to work from Ridley Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ridley Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,232 commuters (the 14% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Ridley Township
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ridley Township is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #94 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Ridley Township 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 15,428 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 95% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 25% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 81% 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). 9.7% of Ridley Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Ridley Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ridley Township next to U.S. towns of 22,000 to 42,000: 587th of 1,334 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 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Northampton Township PA | 39,919 | $159K | 2.5% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Horsham Township PA | 27,882 | $122K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 585 | Simpsonville SC | 28,459 | $82K | 6.1% | 4.1% | 5% | B+ |
| 586 | Kaneohe HI | 37,355 | $126K | 9.7% | 4.5% | 2% | B+ |
| 587 | Ridley Township PA | 30,956 | $93K | 9.3% | 4.7% | 7% | B+ |
| 588 | Carney MD | 28,343 | $84K | 11.0% | 3.2% | 4% | B+ |
| 589 | North Augusta SC | 26,982 | $86K | 6.6% | 3.8% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Ridley Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Work in the towns next to Ridley Township
The biggest share goes to Chester (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ridley Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridley Township | – | B+ | A+ | 25 min | $92,835 |
| Ridley Park | under 2% | A | A | 27 min | $93,594 |
| Eddystone | under 2% | C− | A | 28 min | $51,953 |
| Prospect Park | under 2% | B− | A+ | 22 min | $63,077 |
| Nether Providence Township | under 2% | A | A | 31 min | $150,950 |
| Rutledge | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Chester | 2% | C− | A+ | 23 min | $41,342 |
| Darby Township | under 2% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Swarthmore | under 2% | A | A+ | 26 min | $152,361 |
Same-state neighbors only. Rutledge: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Darby Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ridley 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 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 Ridley Township: questions
What is the median household income in Ridley Township?
$92,835 (±$10,318) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ridley Township?
9.3%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ridley Township?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ridley Township work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Philadelphia (22%, 13 mi), Upper Darby Township (3%, 5 mi), Lower Merion Township (3%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ridley Township walkable?
Ridley Township is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.0 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ridley Township without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 25% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ridley Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ridley Township
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.