Work & commute · Cheltenham

Work & commute in Cheltenham, PA

Most working residents leave Cheltenham for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Philadelphia (40%), Abington (4%) and Upper Merion (2%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

827 of 16,702 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 15,875 Cheltenham residents head out of town to work, 827 work right here, and 10,391 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cheltenham.

15,875live here, work elsewhere

827live and work here

10,391work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cheltenham goes to work

Philadelphia4.8 mi away

40%6,735

Cheltenham (in town)right here

5%827

Abington2.8 mi away

4%629

Upper Merion12.9 mi away

2%392

Horsham8.5 mi away

2%364

Lower Merion8.2 mi away

2%314

Upper Dublin5.6 mi away

2%259

Plymouth8.7 mi away

1%247

Bensalem10.5 mi away

1%217

Jenkintown1.3 mi away

1%214

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%6,504

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

How far

How far Cheltenham commutes

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

62%

26%

62%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cheltenham is a commuter town

0.67jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Cheltenham are

11,218 jobs are based in Cheltenham. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cheltenham’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cheltenham

11,218 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Cheltenham residents hold

16,702 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+6%

Jobs based in Cheltenham, 2013 → 2023: 10,607 → 11,218. 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.