Photo: Nyttend · Public domainJobs, income and commuting in Sandy Lake, PA
6% of workers have no commute at all, next to 16% for Pennsylvania as a whole. Only 7% work in Sandy Lake itself; outside it, Sandy Lake Township draws the most (7%, 2 miles). The trip to work takes 30 minutes on average, where Pennsylvania has 26 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Sandy Lake apart
Factories, building and farms: 39% of the jobs in Sandy Lake
242 jobs are based in Sandy Lake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sandy Lake, 2014 → 2024: 336 → 242. 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 Sandy Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Sandy Lake
On a workday 241 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 225 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 (0.94 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Sandy Lake ends
Where Sandy Lake clocks in
7% of workers
6% 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.
How long Sandy Lake spends getting to work: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sandy Lake workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 407 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.
How many miles Sandy Lake commutes
About 25% 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.
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 Sandy Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Sandy Lake?
$83,875 (±$21,803) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sandy Lake?
13.0%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sandy Lake?
30 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sandy Lake work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sandy Lake Township (7%, 2 mi), Pine Township (6%, 13 mi), Pittsburgh (4%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Sandy Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sandy Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sandy Lake
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.