Work & commute · Elsmere

Work & commute in Elsmere, DE

Most working residents leave Elsmere for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Wilmington (13%), New Castle (5%) and Philadelphia (4%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

60 of 2,834 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,774 Elsmere residents head out of town to work, 60 work right here, and 1,325 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Elsmere.

2,774live here, work elsewhere

60live and work here

1,325work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Elsmere goes to work

Wilmington3.3 mi away

13%379

New Castle5 mi away

5%135

Philadelphia, PA30.8 mi away

4%104

Newark9.6 mi away

2%62

Elsmere (in town)right here

2%60

Hockessin5.4 mi away

1%41

New Garden, PA10.1 mi away

1%35

Newport1.7 mi away

1%33

Dover40.1 mi away

1%32

Bear9.4 mi away

1%32

Everywhere elseother towns and states

68%1,921

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Elsmere commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

73%

12%

73%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Elsmere is a commuter town

0.49jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.49 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Elsmere are

1,385 jobs are based in Elsmere. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Elsmere’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Elsmere

1,385 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)37%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Elsmere residents hold

2,834 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month57%

−50%

Jobs based in Elsmere, 2013 → 2023: 2,764 → 1,385. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.