Photo: Max Chistokletov · CC BY-SA 3.0About half of Swissvale’s working residents commute to Pittsburgh
Home is the office for 26% of workers, next to 16% for Pennsylvania as a whole. Jobs and income earn Swissvale C; getting around on foot earns it A+. Measured by household income, Swissvale is behind 73% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Swissvale at work: what stands out
Nearly half of Swissvale works in Pittsburgh
1,993 working residents, 49%, have their main job in Pittsburgh, 4.9 miles away across the town line. That’s 16 times as many as work in Swissvale itself. The commute map ↓
Most Swissvale residents work close to home
74% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. Only 8% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
A lot of Swissvale works from home
26% of Swissvale workers work from home, against 16% across Pennsylvania. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Swissvale pay little
26% of the jobs based in Swissvale pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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.
The figures behind Swissvale’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Swissvale is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #846 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Swissvale’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (8.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Swissvale could be anywhere from C− to B.
Where Swissvale’s working residents head each day
Where Swissvale clocks in
49% of workers
3% of workers
1% 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.
The distance from Swissvale to work
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.
Time on the road from Swissvale: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Swissvale workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,414 commuters (the 26% 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 kinds of work in Swissvale
2,339 jobs are based in Swissvale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Swissvale, 2013 → 2023: 2,444 → 2,339. 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 Swissvale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Swissvale
On a workday 3,972 residents head out to work, 108 work right here, and 2,231 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,500 people are in Swissvale on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.57 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Swissvale is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Swissvale is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #19 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Both inputs place Swissvale 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 4,607 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 92% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 73% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 25.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% 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). 17.5% of Swissvale households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 12% of Swissvale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,034 U.S. towns of 5,700 to 11,100, Swissvale comes 2,257th 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | West Vincent Township PA | 6,885 | $203K | 1.4% | 0.8% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Bethel Township PA | 9,774 | $177K | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Upper Nazareth Township PA | 8,521 | $122K | 1.2% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,255 | Rice Lake WI | 8,882 | $52K | 12.9% | 3.2% | 41% | C |
| 2,256 | Shelby OH | 9,231 | $58K | 13.2% | 4.2% | 19% | C |
| 2,257 | Swissvale PA | 8,197 | $60K | 17.0% | 8.0% | 3% | C |
| 2,258 | St. Clair Township OH | 7,520 | $58K | 11.4% | 5.1% | 11% | C |
| 2,259 | Happy Valley CA | 5,944 | $92K | 8.9% | 11.3% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,034 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Swissvale, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
49% of Swissvale works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Swissvale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swissvale | – | C | A+ | 25 min | $60,341 |
| Pittsburgh | 49% | C+ | A+ | 23 min | $65,742 |
| Edgewood | under 2% | A | A+ | 26 min | $103,203 |
| Braddock Hills | under 2% | C+ | A | 21 min | $39,981 |
| Rankin | under 2% | C | A+ | 29 min | $48,145 |
| Munhall | under 2% | C | A+ | 24 min | $52,517 |
| North Braddock | under 2% | D | A+ | 31 min | $34,564 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Pittsburgh. Darker towns draw more of Swissvale’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 Swissvale: questions
What is the median household income in Swissvale?
$60,341 (±$4,644) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Swissvale?
17.0%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Swissvale?
25 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Swissvale work?
3% work in town.
Is Swissvale walkable?
Swissvale is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.8 out of 20, and 21% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Swissvale without a car?
12% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. 73% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Swissvale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Swissvale
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.