Work & commute · Hershey

Work & commute in Hershey, PA

About one in 4 of Hershey’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Derry (36%), Harrisburg (6%) and Lower Paxton (4%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

27%

1,464 of 5,407 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,943 Hershey residents head out of town to work, 1,464 work right here, and 27,455 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Hershey.

3,943live here, work elsewhere

1,464live and work here

27,455work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Hershey goes to work

Derry1 mi away

36%1,946

Harrisburg12.7 mi away

6%300

Lower Paxton8.7 mi away

4%202

Swatara8.8 mi away

3%136

Susquehanna12.1 mi away

2%110

Philadelphia82 mi away

2%103

Lower Swatara7.3 mi away

2%100

Hampden17.8 mi away

1%69

Lower Allen15.7 mi away

1%57

South Lebanon14.5 mi away

1%51

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%2,333

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

How far

How far Hershey commutes

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

51%

25%

18%

51%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Hershey is a job hub

5.35jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Hershey are

28,919 jobs are based in Hershey. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Hershey’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Hershey

28,919 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities6%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month71%

Jobs Hershey residents hold

5,407 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+45%

Jobs based in Hershey, 2013 → 2023: 19,903 → 28,919. 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.