Photo: Adam Moss · CC BY-SA 2.0Most of Telford commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 37.7 in Philadelphia. 1,349 jobs are based in Telford; 2,630 of its residents have a job. Telford grades A− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Telford, in a few figures
No single place dominates Telford’s commute
The biggest draw, Philadelphia, gets only 8% of working residents, and 57% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Telford residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Telford makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Telford are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Telford residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. The jobs ↓
Telford’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Telford is Philadelphia, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (216) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Telford
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Telford is better than 80% of U.S. towns, #307 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Telford could be anywhere from B to A+.
8% of working residents work in Philadelphia
Where Telford clocks in
8% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Telford makes things: 37% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Telford, 2013 → 2023: 1,224 → 1,349. 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 Telford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Telford 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.
The daily flow of workers through Telford
On a workday 2,538 residents head out to work, 92 work right here, and 1,257 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,700 people are in Telford on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Telford: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Telford workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,363 commuters (the 11% 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.
Telford is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Telford is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #246 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.5% 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 2,641 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 63% 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). 6.4% of Telford households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Telford’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Telford is 802nd of 3,692 U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Wallace Township PA | 3,759 | $183K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Pocopson Township PA | 4,480 | $230K | 1.3% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 800 | Falmouth VA | 5,216 | $112K | 7.2% | 3.4% | <1% | A− |
| 801 | Holly Ridge NC | 5,908 | $105K | 0.8% | 1.6% | 4% | A− |
| 802 | Telford PA | 4,978 | $91K | 6.2% | 4.2% | 3% | A− |
| 803 | Robinson Township IN | 3,870 | $98K | 8.2% | 0.6% | 3% | A− |
| 804 | Howard Township OH | 6,206 | $105K | 4.5% | 0.9% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,692 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Telford, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
The towns next door employ 14% of Telford
The biggest share goes to Franconia Township (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Telford workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telford | – | A− | A | 24 min | $91,058 |
| West Rockhill Township | 3% | A+ | C | 26 min | $104,354 |
| Franconia Township | 7% | A | A− | 30 min | $111,426 |
| Hilltown Township | 4% | A | B | 31 min | $133,690 |
| Souderton | under 3% | B+ | A | 29 min | $93,537 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Telford’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 Telford: questions
What is the median household income in Telford?
$91,058 (±$10,729) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Telford?
6.2%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Telford?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Telford work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Philadelphia (8%, 24 mi), Franconia Township (7%, 2 mi), Hatfield Township (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Telford walkable?
Telford is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Telford without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Telford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Telford
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.