Work & commute · Foster

Work & commute in Foster, PA

Most working residents leave Foster for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Bradford (29%), Bradford (15%) and Olean (5%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

144 of 1,740 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,596 Foster residents head out of town to work, 144 work right here, and 1,136 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Foster.

1,596live here, work elsewhere

144live and work here

1,136work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Foster goes to work

Bradford1.2 mi away

29%507

Bradford4.8 mi away

15%259

Foster (in town)right here

8%144

Olean, NY12.6 mi away

5%93

Lewis Run6.8 mi away

3%47

Warren28.3 mi away

2%37

Smethport13.8 mi away

1%22

Allegany, NY10 mi away

1%20

Lafayette11 mi away

1%17

Salamanca, NY15 mi away

1%15

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%579

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

How far

How far Foster commutes

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

58%

14%

22%

58%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Foster is a commuter town

0.74jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Foster are

1,280 jobs are based in Foster. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Foster’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Foster

1,280 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities31%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less26%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month34%

Jobs Foster residents hold

1,740 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)30%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+6%

Jobs based in Foster, 2013 → 2023: 1,207 → 1,280. 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.