Work & commute · Forest

Work & commute in Forest, PA

Most working residents leave Forest for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Carbondale (7%), Scranton (7%) and Fell (3%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

78 of 831 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 753 Forest residents head out of town to work, 78 work right here, and 392 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Forest.

753live here, work elsewhere

78live and work here

392work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Forest goes to work

Forest City (in town)right here

9%78

Carbondale5.9 mi away

7%62

Scranton20 mi away

7%60

Fell3.6 mi away

3%29

Dunmore18.1 mi away

3%24

New York, NY105 mi away

3%22

Archbald10.9 mi away

3%22

Dickson City15.4 mi away

3%21

Jessup14.3 mi away

2%17

South Abington15.9 mi away

2%16

Everywhere elseother towns and states

58%480

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

How far

How far Forest commutes

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

26%

32%

16%

27%

26%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Forest is a commuter town

0.57jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Forest are

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

Jobs based in Forest

470 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Forest residents hold

831 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−10%

Jobs based in Forest, 2013 → 2023: 523 → 470. 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.