Work & commute · College

Work & commute in College, PA

About one in 3 of College’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are State College (13%), Ferguson (7%) and Patton (4%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

36%

1,352 of 3,787 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,435 College residents head out of town to work, 1,352 work right here, and 21,822 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in College.

2,435live here, work elsewhere

1,352live and work here

21,822work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where College goes to work

College (in town)right here

36%1,352

State College2.6 mi away

13%511

Ferguson8.1 mi away

7%265

Patton5.5 mi away

4%160

Benner3.8 mi away

2%79

Harris4 mi away

2%74

Bellefonte7.4 mi away

2%65

Spring7.1 mi away

1%46

Altoona37.2 mi away

1%34

Philadelphia151.8 mi away

1%32

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%1,169

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

How far

How far College commutes

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

68%

22%

68%Under 10 mi

5%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

College is a job hub

6.12jobs per working resident

A job hub

6.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in College are

23,174 jobs are based in College. Here is what they are, next to the jobs College’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in College

23,174 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)87%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month16%

Over $3,333 a month75%

Jobs College residents hold

3,787 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month66%

−2%

Jobs based in College, 2013 → 2023: 23,661 → 23,174. 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.