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Work & commute in Drexel Hill · A commuter town

97% of Drexel Hill’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Drexel Hill for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Philadelphia (28%), Upper Darby (8%) and Lower Merion (6%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Work in town
3%
467 of 13,713 working residents
Typical commute
7 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
31 min
More than PA (26 min)
Work from home
18%
More than PA (16%)
Jobs based here
3,593
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Drexel Hill?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

28% of working residents work in Philadelphia

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

Clifton HeightsLansdownePhiladelphia: 3,902 residents work here (28%)Haverford: 378 residents work here (3%)MiddletownNewtown: 251 residents work here (2%)Lower Merion: 802 residents work here (6%)Upper Darby: 1,102 residents work here (8%)Radnor: 287 residents work here (2%)RidleySpringfield: 258 residents work here (2%)Marple: 283 residents work here (2%)Upper Merion: 414 residents work here (3%)Tredyffrin: 341 residents work here (2%)Drexel HillPhiladelphiaUpper DarbyLower MerionUpper MerionHaverfordTredyffrinDrexel Hill
1
Philadelphia9.9 mi away
28%3,902
2
Upper Darby0.8 mi away
8%1,102
3
Lower Merion5.7 mi away
6%802
4
Upper Merion10.5 mi away
3%414
5
Haverford2.7 mi away
3%378
6
Tredyffrin11.2 mi away
2%341
7
Radnor6.3 mi away
2%287
8
Marple3.4 mi away
2%283
9
Springfield2.3 mi away
2%258
10
Newtown6.4 mi away
2%251
Everywhere elseother towns and states
42%5,695
The top trips

Where Drexel Hill clocks in

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

Day and night

Drexel Hill quiets down on a workday

On a workday 13,246 residents head out to work, 467 work right here, and 3,126 people come in from elsewhere.

13,246live here, work elsewhere
467live and work here
3,126work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night30,000
Workday20,000
30,000live here− 13,000head out to work+ 3,100come in to work= 20,000on a workday

About 20,000 people are in Drexel Hill on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.26jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.26 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 Drexel Hill commutes less than 7 miles

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

10 mi25 mi30 miPhiladelphia: 28% · 9.9 miUpper Darby: 8% · 0.8 miLower Merion: 6% · 5.7 miUpper Merion: 3% · 10.5 miHaverford: 3% · 2.7 miTredyffrin: 2% · 11.2 miRadnor: 2% · 6.3 miMarple: 2% · 3.4 miSpringfield: 2% · 2.3 miNewtown: 2% · 6.4 miPhiladelphia 28%Upper Darby 8%Lower Merion 6%Upper Merion 3%Haverford 3%Drexel Hill
Drexel HillTop destinations (size = commuters)
66%Under 10 mi8,980 residents
23%10–24 mi3,160 residents
4%25–50 mi479 residents
7%Over 50 mi899 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

What the 3,593 jobs in Drexel Hill are

3,593 jobs are based in Drexel Hill. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Drexel Hill’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Drexel HillJobs Drexel Hill residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms7%8%
Trade, transport & utilities20%17%
Services: health, schools, offices73%74%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less23%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month32%21%
Over $3,333 a month45%66%

Who does it

29 or younger25%22%
30 to 5446%53%
55 and older29%26%
−13%

Jobs based in Drexel Hill, 2013 → 2023: 4,124 → 3,593. 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.

Time on the road

About 31 minutes each way, longer than most of Pennsylvania

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

A year of commuting
237 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Drexel Hill31 min
Pennsylvania26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
18%

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

About 2 in 10
Next door

13% of Drexel Hill works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Upper Darby (8%). Darker towns draw more of Drexel 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 Drexel Hill

Drexel Hill home →

Commuter talk

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

Town Square →
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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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