Photo: Jet Lowe · Public domainHousehold incomes in Windber are lower than in 85% of U.S. towns
For 8% of workers, the job is at home, where Pennsylvania as a whole has 16%. 13.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania. The two grades for Windber are C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Windber in brief
Windber trades workers with the towns around it
Windber has about as many jobs (1,395) as working residents (1,604), but they are mostly different people: 1,391 residents leave for work each day while 1,182 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Windber are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Windber and Richland Township trade workers both ways
Richland Township is the top workplace for Windber residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Windber come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Windber are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 26 across Pennsylvania. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Pennsylvania worker. 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.
Jobs & income in Windber: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Windber is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #948 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Job access by car holds Windber’s grade up (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($52,438, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Windber could be anywhere from D to B.
The daily commute in and out of Windber
On a workday 1,391 residents head out to work, 213 work right here, and 1,182 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.87 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.
17% of working residents work in Richland Township
Where Windber clocks in
17% of workers
9% of workers
4% 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.
Each way, about 19 minutes from Windber
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Windber workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,655 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.
The 1,395 jobs based in Windber
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Windber, 2013 → 2023: 1,573 → 1,395. 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 Windber’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Windber to work
About 22% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Windber walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Windber is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #431 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.4% 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 1,799 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). 8.0% of Windber households have no vehicle (Pennsylvania 10.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Windber’s commuters take a bus or train.
Windber next to U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,100: 3,570th of 4,430 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Wallace Township PA | 3,759 | $183K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Edgmont Township PA | 4,706 | $137K | 2.4% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Pocopson Township PA | 4,480 | $230K | 1.3% | 2.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,568 | Grand Saline TX | 3,319 | $50K | 18.7% | 3.8% | 16% | C− |
| 3,569 | Liberty City TX | 2,648 | $63K | 16.8% | 10.4% | 8% | C− |
| 3,570 | Windber PA | 3,780 | $52K | 13.9% | 6.1% | 13% | C− |
| 3,571 | Wyboo SC | 3,639 | $59K | 15.1% | 3.6% | 4% | C− |
| 3,572 | Columbus KS | 2,866 | $38K | 21.3% | 3.0% | 25% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,430 | 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 Windber, the top three, the last and three more from Pennsylvania.
How Windber compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Paint Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Windber workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windber | – | C− | B+ | 19 min | $52,438 |
| Paint Township | 4% | C+ | D | 24 min | $61,364 |
| Paint | 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Paint: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Windber’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 Windber: questions
What is the median household income in Windber?
$52,438 (±$11,561) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,971 across Pennsylvania and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Windber?
13.9%, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Windber?
19 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Pennsylvania and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Windber work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richland Township (17%, 4 mi), Johnstown (9%, 8 mi), Paint Township (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Windber walkable?
Windber is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Windber without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Windber, from the people who make the trip.
More of Windber
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.