Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Rutherford works elsewhere
A typical one-way commute lasts 20 minutes (Pennsylvania 26, U.S. 26). Rutherford has 996 jobs for 2,653 working residents. Only 2% work in Rutherford; the top destination outside it is Harrisburg (14%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Rutherford in brief
Rutherford has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Rutherford went from 535 in 2013 to 996 in 2023, +86%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Rutherford 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 ↓
Most Rutherford residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
65% of the jobs in Rutherford pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rutherford, 2013 → 2023: 535 → 996. 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 Rutherford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Rutherford spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rutherford workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,843 commuters (the 17% 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.
How far Rutherford’s workers travel
About 16% 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.
How many people are in Rutherford by day
On a workday 2,610 residents head out to work, 43 work right here, and 953 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Rutherford on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Rutherford: the destinations
Where Rutherford clocks in
14% 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.
10% of Rutherford works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rutherford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutherford | – | — | — | 20 min | $83,636 |
| Lawnton | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Lower Paxton Township | 10% | A | B | 21 min | $91,789 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lawnton: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lower Paxton Township. Darker towns draw more of Rutherford’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 Rutherford: questions
What is the median household income in Rutherford?
$83,636 (±$11,494) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rutherford?
8.3%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rutherford?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rutherford work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harrisburg (14%, 6 mi), Lower Paxton Township (10%, 4 mi), Swatara Township (10%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Rutherford 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 Rutherford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rutherford
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.