Making a living in Trainer
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 37.7 in Philadelphia. Trainer grades B− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For 4% of workers, the job is at home (Pennsylvania 16%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Trainer
The jobs in Trainer pay better than its residents’ jobs
91% of the jobs based in Trainer pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 54% of the jobs Trainer residents hold. 98% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Trainer. The jobs ↓
Trainer makes and builds things
69% of the jobs based in Trainer are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Trainer residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 10%. The jobs ↓
Few Trainer workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 16% across Pennsylvania. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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; with 818 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Trainer: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Trainer is better than 55% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Trainer’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (23.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (5.6%) is left out: Trainer’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Trainer could be anywhere from C− to A−.
69% of the jobs in Trainer make or build things
1,070 jobs are based in Trainer.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Trainer, 2013 → 2023: 1,205 → 1,070. 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 Trainer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes each way for Trainer’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Trainer workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 891 commuters (the 4% 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.
Trainer fills up on a workday
On a workday 800 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 1,052 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Trainer on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 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.
19% of working residents work in Philadelphia
Where Trainer clocks in
19% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Trainer
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.
In Trainer, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Trainer is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Trainer 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 931 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, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 10.8% of Trainer households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Trainer’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Trainer is 1,969th of 5,509 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Newtown PA | 2,257 | $166K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 31 | Edgeworth PA | 1,611 | $203K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | West Conshohocken PA | 1,498 | $139K | 5.0% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,967 | Madison Township PA | 2,514 | $80K | 7.3% | 5.2% | <1% | B− |
| 1,968 | Pound WI | 1,435 | $84K | 7.2% | 3.4% | 5% | B− |
| 1,969 | Trainer PA | 1,972 | $81K | 23.9% | 5.6% | 2% | B− |
| 1,970 | Winfield WV | 2,381 | $103K | 15.9% | 2.6% | 7% | B− |
| 1,971 | Sheridan Township MI | 2,581 | $76K | 8.1% | 2.7% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Trainer, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
Trainer and its neighbors: 10% work next door
The biggest share goes to Upper Chichester Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Trainer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trainer | – | B− | A+ | 32 min | $81,250 |
| Marcus Hook | under 2% | C+ | A | 29 min | $53,157 |
| Chester | 4% | C− | A+ | 23 min | $41,342 |
| Linwood | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Lower Chichester Township | under 2% | B− | A− | 27 min | $82,589 |
| Upper Chichester Township | 6% | B+ | B+ | 25 min | $92,371 |
Same-state neighbors only. Linwood: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Trainer’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 Trainer: questions
What is the median household income in Trainer?
$81,250 (±$60,055) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Trainer?
23.9%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Trainer?
32 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Trainer work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Philadelphia (19%, 19 mi), Upper Chichester Township (6%, 2 mi), Chester (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Trainer walkable?
Trainer is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Trainer without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Trainer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Trainer
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.