Photo: Canadian2006 · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Somerset are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Somerset are C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Below the poverty line: 17.2% of residents; Pennsylvania has 11.7%. About one in four stay in Somerset for work; outside it, Somerset Township is the main destination (17%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Somerset apart on work
Somerset is where the jobs are
Somerset has 4,789 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 8,200 people are in town, 41% more than the 5,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Somerset are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker. Time on the road ↓
Somerset and Somerset Township trade workers both ways
Somerset Township is the top workplace for Somerset residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Somerset come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Somerset earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Somerset is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #953 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Somerset’s grade up (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($47,102, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Somerset could be anywhere from D to B−.
Who works in Somerset, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,833 residents head out to work, 579 work right here, and 4,210 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,200 people are in Somerset on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Somerset: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Somerset workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,380 commuters (the 8% 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.
Who travels to work in Somerset, and from where
Where Somerset clocks in
17% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
Jobs in Somerset: what the 4,789 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Somerset, 2014 → 2024: 4,665 → 4,789. 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 Somerset’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Somerset
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Somerset
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Somerset is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #232 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Somerset 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 2,592 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). 11.9% of Somerset households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Somerset’s commuters take a bus or train.
Somerset next to U.S. towns of 4,100 to 7,900: 2,865th of 3,432 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | West Vincent Township PA | 6,885 | $203K | 1.4% | 0.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Pocopson Township PA | 4,480 | $230K | 1.3% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,863 | Humboldt IA | 4,675 | $75K | 15.9% | 7.8% | 38% | C− |
| 2,864 | Boonville MO | 7,867 | $56K | 14.3% | 5.8% | 29% | C− |
| 2,865 | Somerset PA | 5,815 | $47K | 17.2% | 5.1% | 24% | C− |
| 2,866 | Myrtletown CA | 5,322 | $60K | 17.2% | 6.7% | 4% | C− |
| 2,867 | Gray LA | 5,154 | $55K | 14.7% | 7.3% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,432 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 3% | 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 Somerset, 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 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 Somerset: questions
What is the median household income in Somerset?
$47,102 (±$8,818) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Somerset?
17.2%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Somerset?
17 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Somerset work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Somerset Township (17%, 2 mi), Richland Township (3%, 23 mi), Pittsburgh (2%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Somerset walkable?
Somerset is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Somerset without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Somerset, from the people who make the trip.
More of Somerset
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. 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.