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Work & commute in Chestnut Hill · A commuter town

98% of Chestnut Hill’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Chestnut Hill for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Bethlehem (7%), Forks (7%) and Easton (6%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Work in town
2%
47 of 2,789 working residents
Typical commute
15 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
29 min
More than PA (26 min)
Work from home
25%
More than PA (16%)
Jobs based here
671
A commuter town
Work out of state
16%
mostly New Jersey

What kind of work town is Chestnut Hill?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

7% of working residents work in Bethlehem

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Phillipsburg: 60 residents work here (2%)Fountain Hill: 72 residents work here (3%)WilsonNazarethEaston: 181 residents work here (6%)Allentown: 166 residents work here (6%)Bethlehem: 208 residents work here (7%)Philadelphia: 72 residents work here (3%)LopatcongLower Mount BethelHanover: 59 residents work here (2%)ChestnuthillPalmer: 154 residents work here (6%)Forks: 206 residents work here (7%)Bethlehem: 81 residents work here (3%)Chestnut HillBethlehemForksEastonAllentownPalmerBethlehemChestnut Hill
1
Bethlehem10.7 mi away
7%208
2
Forks1.3 mi away
7%206
3
Easton2.6 mi away
6%181
4
Allentown16.8 mi away
6%166
5
Palmer3.2 mi away
6%154
6
Bethlehem6.9 mi away
3%81
7
Fountain Hill12.9 mi away
3%72
8
Philadelphia49.5 mi away
3%72
9
Phillipsburg, NJ2.6 mi away
2%60
10
Hanover10.6 mi away
2%59
Everywhere elseother towns and states
55%1,530
The top trips

Where Chestnut Hill clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Pennsylvania

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
225 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Chestnut Hill29 min
Pennsylvania26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
25%

of Chestnut Hill workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.

About 2 in 10
Day and night

Chestnut Hill quiets down on a workday

On a workday 2,742 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 624 people come in from elsewhere.

2,742live here, work elsewhere
47live and work here
624work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night7,100
Workday5,000
7,100live here− 2,700head out to work+ 620come in to work= 5,000on a workday

About 5,000 people are in Chestnut Hill on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.24jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Chestnut Hill commutes less than 15 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi60 miBethlehem: 7% · 10.7 miForks: 7% · 1.3 miEaston: 6% · 2.6 miAllentown: 6% · 16.8 miPalmer: 6% · 3.2 miBethlehem: 3% · 6.9 miFountain Hill: 3% · 12.9 miPhiladelphia: 3% · 49.5 miPhillipsburg: 2% · 2.6 miHanover: 2% · 10.6 miBethlehem 7%Forks 7%Easton 6%Allentown 6%Palmer 6%Chestnut Hill
Chestnut HillTop destinations (size = commuters)
34%Under 10 mi945 residents
33%10–24 mi926 residents
16%25–50 mi435 residents
17%Over 50 mi475 residents

About 17% 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.

The jobs

What the 671 jobs in Chestnut Hill are

671 jobs are based in Chestnut Hill. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chestnut Hill’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Chestnut HillJobs Chestnut Hill residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms3%13%
Trade, transport & utilities27%21%
Services: health, schools, offices70%65%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less16%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month25%20%
Over $3,333 a month59%67%

Who does it

29 or younger25%20%
30 to 5448%52%
55 and older27%28%
−63%

Jobs based in Chestnut Hill, 2013 → 2023: 1,834 → 671. 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.

Next door

13% of Chestnut Hill works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Forks (7%). Darker towns draw more of Chestnut Hill’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Chestnut Hill

Chestnut Hill home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Chestnut Hill, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Ask neighbors

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.

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