Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Salem Township has 0.8 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income C−: better than 24% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #914 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns · #297 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania.
Household incomes here are lower than in 71% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 28 minutes each way (Pennsylvania 26, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Salem Township; the top destination outside it is Scranton (9%, 15 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.0 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 37.7 in Philadelphia (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Salem Township, in brief
What’s behind Salem Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Salem Township is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #914 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The poverty rate holds Salem Township’s grade up (11.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.4%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salem Township could be anywhere from D to B+.
What the 1,361 jobs in Salem Township are
1,361 jobs are based in Salem Township. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Salem Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salem Township, 2013 → 2023: 2,227 → 1,361. 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,491 residents head out to work, 222 work right here, and 1,139 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 (0.79 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.
9% of working residents work in Scranton
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Salem Township clocks in
9% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 28 minutes each way, about the PA average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salem Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,415 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.
Half of Salem Township commutes less than 17 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 26% 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.
Salem Township is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Salem Township is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #297 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.6% across Pennsylvania, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,642 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 5.4% of Salem Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Salem Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Salem Township is 3,171st of 4,112 U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,600 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Salem Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Pocopson Township PA | 4,480 | $230K | 1.3% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,169 | Pittsfield ME | 3,935 | $57K | 15.5% | 4.0% | 22% | C− |
| 3,170 | Eaton NY | 4,391 | $53K | 10.1% | 4.2% | 12% | C− |
| 3,171 | Salem Township PA | 4,174 | $62K | 11.7% | 6.4% | 13% | C− |
| 3,172 | Pupukea HI | 4,679 | $100K | 14.8% | 7.7% | 5% | C− |
| 3,173 | Crooked River Ranch OR | 5,160 | $86K | 9.4% | 8.6% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,112 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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.
Salem Township and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Palmyra Township (2%). Darker towns draw more of Salem Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Salem Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salem Township | – | C− | A− | 28 min | $61,659 |
| Sterling Township | under 2% | C+ | C+ | 25 min | $70,417 |
| Greene Township | under 2% | D | C | 44 min | $64,219 |
| Lake Wallenpaupack Estates | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Paupack Township | under 2% | C | C− | 39 min | $75,302 |
| Jefferson Township | under 2% | B− | C− | 28 min | $92,234 |
| The Escape | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Lake Township | under 2% | C− | C+ | 39 min | $59,873 |
| Palmyra Township | 2% | B− | B+ | 31 min | $66,071 |
| Madison Township | under 2% | B− | C− | 23 min | $79,769 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lake Wallenpaupack Estates and The Escape: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Salem Township: questions
What is the median household income in Salem Township?
$61,659 (±$12,481) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salem Township?
11.7%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salem Township?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salem Township work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Scranton (9%, 15 mi), Honesdale (4%, 14 mi), Dunmore (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salem Township walkable?
Salem Township is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salem Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Salem Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Salem 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.