Work & commute · Lancaster

Work & commute in Lancaster, PA

Most working residents leave Lancaster for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Cranberry (12%), Pittsburgh (11%) and Jackson (7%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

20 of 1,276 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

23%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,256 Lancaster residents head out of town to work, 20 work right here, and 637 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lancaster.

1,256live here, work elsewhere

20live and work here

637work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lancaster goes to work

Cranberry8.7 mi away

12%155

Pittsburgh28.3 mi away

11%135

Jackson3.6 mi away

7%86

Zelienople3.7 mi away

4%55

Marshall13.2 mi away

3%37

Butler9.9 mi away

3%35

McCandless18.3 mi away

3%35

Adams9.9 mi away

3%33

Butler11.5 mi away

2%26

Pine13.8 mi away

2%25

Everywhere elseother towns and states

51%654

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

How far

How far Lancaster commutes

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

27%

38%

27%

27%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

27%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lancaster is a commuter town

0.51jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lancaster are

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

Jobs based in Lancaster

657 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)37%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)34%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs Lancaster residents hold

1,276 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+5%

Jobs based in Lancaster, 2013 → 2023: 623 → 657. 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.