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Work & commute in Imperial · A commuter town

98% of Imperial’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Imperial for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Pittsburgh (19%), Findlay (10%) and North Fayette (9%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Work in town
2%
32 of 1,343 working residents
Typical commute
12 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
19 min
Less than PA (26 min)
Work from home
8%
Less than PA (16%)
Jobs based here
828
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Imperial?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

19% of working residents work in Pittsburgh

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

OakdaleMcDonaldGreen Tree: 24 residents work here (2%)Bethel ParkPittsburgh: 254 residents work here (19%)WeirtonRobinson: 92 residents work here (7%)Moon: 95 residents work here (7%)Cecil: 35 residents work here (3%)Cranberry: 22 residents work here (2%)Findlay: 135 residents work here (10%)Ross: 17 residents work here (1%)South FayetteNorth Fayette: 120 residents work here (9%)Collier: 20 residents work here (1%)EnlowImperialPittsburghFindlayNorth FayetteMoonRobinsonCecilImperial
1
Pittsburgh14.5 mi away
19%254
2
Findlay2.4 mi away
10%135
3
North Fayette2.7 mi away
9%120
4
Moon4.5 mi away
7%95
5
Robinson6.1 mi away
7%92
6
Cecil10.3 mi away
3%35
7
Green Tree10.6 mi away
2%24
8
Cranberry19.3 mi away
2%22
9
Collier7.1 mi away
1%20
10
Ross12.9 mi away
1%17
Everywhere elseother towns and states
39%529
The top trips

Where Imperial clocks in

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

Time on the road

About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Pennsylvania

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

A year of commuting
149 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Imperial19 min
Pennsylvania26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
8%

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

About 1 in 10
Day and night

Imperial quiets down on a workday

On a workday 1,311 residents head out to work, 32 work right here, and 796 people come in from elsewhere.

1,311live here, work elsewhere
32live and work here
796work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night3,000
Workday2,500
3,000live here− 1,300head out to work+ 800come in to work= 2,500on a workday

About 2,500 people are in Imperial on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.62jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.62 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 Imperial commutes less than 12 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 miPittsburgh: 19% · 14.5 miFindlay: 10% · 2.4 miNorth Fayette: 9% · 2.7 miMoon: 7% · 4.5 miRobinson: 7% · 6.1 miCecil: 3% · 10.3 miGreen Tree: 2% · 10.6 miCranberry: 2% · 19.3 miCollier: 1% · 7.1 miRoss: 1% · 12.9 miFindlay 10%North Fayette 9%Moon 7%Robinson 7%Imperial
ImperialTop destinations (size = commuters)
44%Under 10 mi586 residents
44%10–24 mi585 residents
4%25–50 mi47 residents
9%Over 50 mi124 residents

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

The jobs

What the 828 jobs in Imperial are

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

Jobs based in ImperialJobs Imperial residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms10%11%
Trade, transport & utilities40%23%
Services: health, schools, offices50%66%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less18%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month24%17%
Over $3,333 a month57%71%

Who does it

29 or younger23%17%
30 to 5450%57%
55 and older27%26%
−12%

Jobs based in Imperial, 2013 → 2023: 937 → 828. 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.

Next door

Imperial and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Imperial’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 Imperial

Imperial home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Imperial, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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Ask neighbors

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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