Steelton High School · Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ. M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Swatara Township
Jobs and income earn Swatara Township B+; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in ten work in Swatara Township; the top destination outside it is Harrisburg (13%, 5 miles). The trip to work takes 20 minutes on average; Pennsylvania averages 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Swatara Township: the figures worth knowing
A lot of Swatara Township works one town over
34% of working residents work in a town that borders Swatara Township: Harrisburg (13%), Derry Township (9%) and Lower Paxton Township (8%). Next door ↓
Swatara Township draws workers from far and wide
The 17,872 jobs in Swatara Township are filled from a wide area. Swatara Township’s own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 26%; the other 68% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Swatara Township 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 Swatara Township residents work close to home
61% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Swatara Township gains people on a workday
About 34,000 people are in Swatara Township on a workday afternoon, 21% more than the 28,000 who live here: 17,000 come in to work and 11,000 head out. Day and night ↓
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 Swatara Township earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Swatara Township is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #431 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($80,444, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Swatara Township could be anywhere from B to A.
Out of Swatara Township to work: where people go
Where Swatara Township clocks in
13% of workers
9% 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.
Getting to work from Swatara Township takes 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 Swatara Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,975 commuters (the 20% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Swatara Township
About 18% 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.
Who works in Swatara Township, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 10,916 residents head out to work, 1,102 work right here, and 16,770 people come in from elsewhere.
About 34,000 people are in Swatara Township on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 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.
65% of the jobs in Swatara Township pay over $3,333 a month
17,872 jobs are based in Swatara Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Swatara Township, 2014 → 2024: 19,289 → 17,872. 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 Swatara Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Swatara Township commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Swatara Township is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #483 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.6% across Pennsylvania.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,662 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 23% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 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). 7.6% of Swatara Township households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Swatara Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Swatara Township is 629th among 1,409 U.S. towns of 20,000 to 38,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | West Whiteland Township PA | 20,826 | $133K | 3.0% | 1.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Horsham Township PA | 27,882 | $122K | 4.3% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 627 | West Carson CA | 22,143 | $93K | 8.7% | 5.4% | 3% | B+ |
| 628 | Waterford CT | 20,435 | $105K | 4.6% | 5.6% | 13% | B+ |
| 629 | Swatara Township PA | 27,936 | $80K | 8.3% | 3.7% | 9% | B+ |
| 630 | Arbutus MD | 22,507 | $99K | 14.0% | 3.8% | 5% | B+ |
| 631 | Warwick NY | 31,685 | $119K | 7.9% | 3.8% | 21% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,409 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 16% | 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 Swatara Township, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Bordering towns draw 34% of Swatara Township’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Swatara Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swatara Township | – | B+ | B | 20 min | $80,444 |
| Steelton | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 20 min | $58,194 |
| Fairview Township | under 2% | A | C− | 22 min | $106,223 |
| Lower Swatara Township | 4% | A− | B+ | 22 min | $87,163 |
| Paxtang | under 2% | B+ | A+ | 22 min | $87,083 |
| South Hanover Township | under 2% | A | B− | 18 min | $117,585 |
| New Cumberland | under 2% | B+ | A− | 18 min | $82,154 |
| Lower Paxton Township | 8% | A | B | 21 min | $91,789 |
| Derry Township | 9% | B+ | A | 19 min | $97,025 |
| Harrisburg | 13% | C− | A+ | 20 min | $48,099 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Harrisburg. Darker towns draw more of Swatara Township’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 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 Swatara Township: questions
What is the median household income in Swatara Township?
$80,444 (±$8,357) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Swatara Township?
8.3%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Swatara Township?
20 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Swatara Township work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harrisburg (13%, 5 mi), Derry Township (9%, 8 mi), Lower Paxton Township (8%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Swatara Township walkable?
Swatara Township is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Swatara Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 23% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Swatara Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Swatara Township
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.