Roaring Spring Historic District · Photo: Andrew Bossi · CC BY-SA 2.5At 1.7%, unemployment in Roaring Spring is lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Roaring Spring for work; outside it, Altoona is the main destination (11%, 12 miles). The two grades for Roaring Spring are B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 6% of workers, where Pennsylvania as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Roaring Spring: the gist
Roaring Spring trades workers with the towns around it
Roaring Spring has about as many jobs (1,161) as working residents (1,154), but they are mostly different people: 1,050 residents leave for work each day while 1,057 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in Roaring Spring are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Roaring Spring workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 39 minutes each way, against 26 across Pennsylvania. Over a year that’s about 299 hours of commuting, 100 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Roaring Spring than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Roaring Spring fell from 1,987 in 2013 to 1,161 in 2023, −42%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Roaring Spring
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Roaring Spring is better than 51% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Roaring Spring’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($62,738, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Roaring Spring could be anywhere from C to B+.
Who works in Roaring Spring, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,050 residents head out to work, 104 work right here, and 1,057 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 (1.01 per resident).
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 39 minutes each way, longer than most of Pennsylvania
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roaring Spring workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,157 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.
Most jobs in Roaring Spring are in services
1,161 jobs are based in Roaring Spring.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roaring Spring, 2013 → 2023: 1,987 → 1,161. 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 Roaring Spring’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where the trip to work from Roaring Spring ends
Where Roaring Spring clocks in
11% of workers
8% of workers
6% 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.
How far Roaring Spring goes to work
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Roaring Spring start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Roaring Spring is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 1,229 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). 2.9% of Roaring Spring households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Roaring Spring’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Roaring Spring is 2,217th of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 27 | Edgeworth PA | 1,611 | $203K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Churchill PA | 3,014 | $107K | 1.9% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,215 | Sumiton AL | 2,511 | $66K | 15.9% | 2.3% | 6% | B− |
| 2,216 | Alden NY | 2,755 | $71K | 7.6% | 5.7% | 9% | B− |
| 2,217 | Roaring Spring PA | 2,280 | $63K | 13.4% | 1.7% | 9% | B− |
| 2,218 | New Fairview TX | 1,666 | $92K | 28.9% | 1.1% | 2% | B− |
| 2,219 | Elsah Township IL | 2,093 | $74K | 5.9% | 6.8% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Roaring Spring, 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 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 Roaring Spring: questions
What is the median household income in Roaring Spring?
$62,738 (±$5,737) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roaring Spring?
13.4%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roaring Spring?
39 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roaring Spring work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Altoona (11%, 12 mi), Greenfield Township (8%, 6 mi), North Woodbury Township (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Roaring Spring walkable?
Roaring Spring is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 11.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Roaring Spring without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roaring Spring, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roaring Spring
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.