Photo: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Scranton trail those of 87% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 23.0%, next to 11.7% for Pennsylvania as a whole. Jobs and income earn Scranton C; getting around on foot earns it A. About one in three work in Scranton itself; outside it, Dunmore draws the most (6%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Scranton apart
Commutes from Scranton are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Scranton 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.
Where Scranton’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Scranton is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #904 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Scranton’s grade up (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Scranton could be anywhere from C− to C.
Commuting from Scranton: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Scranton workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 29,092 commuters (the 9% 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.
The distance from Scranton to work
About 23% 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.
Who works in Scranton, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 19,770 residents head out to work, 8,751 work right here, and 24,028 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 (1.15 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.
Where the trip to work from Scranton ends
Where Scranton clocks in
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.
Inside Scranton’s 32,779 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Scranton, 2013 → 2023: 33,958 → 32,779. 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 Scranton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Scranton, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Scranton is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #216 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Scranton 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 31,984 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). 14.2% of Scranton households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Scranton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Scranton and other U.S. towns of 53,000 to 102,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Lower Paxton Township PA | 55,564 | $92K | 6.1% | 2.3% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Lower Merion Township PA | 64,691 | $177K | 6.3% | 4.9% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 204 | Abington Township PA | 58,656 | $104K | 7.5% | 5.7% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 537 | Tulare CA | 73,907 | $72K | 17.9% | 8.6% | 23% | C |
| 538 | Casa Grande AZ | 69,753 | $70K | 13.5% | 6.1% | 23% | C |
| 539 | Scranton PA | 75,514 | $51K | 23.0% | 5.4% | 31% | C |
| 540 | Galveston TX | 53,636 | $56K | 21.4% | 5.8% | 48% | C |
| 541 | Passaic NJ | 71,337 | $55K | 22.9% | 12.5% | 12% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 587 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Scranton, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Bordering towns draw 14% of Scranton’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Scranton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scranton | – | C | A | 19 min | $50,739 |
| Taylor | 2% | B− | B | 22 min | $71,599 |
| Moosic | 4% | A− | A− | 15 min | $80,187 |
| Dunmore | 6% | B | A− | 18 min | $71,302 |
| Ransom Township | under 2% | C− | D | 32 min | $59,886 |
| Roaring Brook Township | under 2% | B+ | C− | 25 min | $127,500 |
| South Abington Township | 2% | A− | C+ | 26 min | $113,615 |
| Spring Brook Township | under 2% | B− | D | 29 min | $69,821 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Dunmore. Darker towns draw more of Scranton’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 Scranton: questions
What is the median household income in Scranton?
$50,739 (±$2,359) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Scranton?
23.0%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Scranton?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Scranton work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dunmore (6%, 3 mi), Moosic (4%, 4 mi), Pittston Township (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Scranton walkable?
Scranton is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Scranton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Scranton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Scranton
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.