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Work & commute in Lawrence · Balanced

99% of Lawrence’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Lawrence for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Pittsburgh (18%), Cecil (9%) and South Fayette (4%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Work in town
1%
8 of 569 working residents
Typical commute
11 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
20 min
Less than PA (26 min)
Work from home
24%
More than PA (16%)
Jobs based here
519
Balanced

What kind of work town is Lawrence?

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

★ What stands out · The jobs

Lawrence makes things: 57% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in LawrenceJobs Lawrence residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms57%9%
Trade, transport & utilities16%22%
Services: health, schools, offices27%69%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less4%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month16%18%
Over $3,333 a month80%69%

Who does it

29 or younger16%20%
30 to 5453%47%
55 and older31%32%
+114%

Jobs based in Lawrence, 2013 → 2023: 242 → 519. 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.

Time on the road

About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of Pennsylvania

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

A year of commuting
156 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Lawrence20 min
Pennsylvania26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
24%

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

About 2 in 10

How Lawrence ranks on commute time →

Day and night

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 561 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 511 people come in from elsewhere.

561live here, work elsewhere
8live and work here
511work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,200
Workday1,100
1,200live here− 560head out to work+ 510come in to work= 1,100on a workday

About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.91jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

About as many jobs as working residents (0.91 per resident).

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

The commute map

18% 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.

Canonsburg: 12 residents work here (2%)WashingtonBethel ParkPittsburgh: 105 residents work here (18%)Robinson: 12 residents work here (2%)Moon: 15 residents work here (3%)North Strabane: 20 residents work here (4%)Upper St. Clair: 15 residents work here (3%)Cecil: 54 residents work here (9%)South Fayette: 23 residents work here (4%)Peters: 22 residents work here (4%)ChartiersCollier: 13 residents work here (2%)LawrencePittsburghCecilSouth FayettePetersNorth StrabaneMoonLawrence
1
Pittsburgh12.3 mi away
18%105
2
Cecil3.5 mi away
9%54
3
South Fayette5.5 mi away
4%23
4
Peters3 mi away
4%22
5
North Strabane5.5 mi away
4%20
6
Moon15 mi away
3%15
73%15
8
Collier6.8 mi away
2%13
9
Canonsburg4.3 mi away
2%12
10
Robinson10.7 mi away
2%12
Everywhere elseother towns and states
49%278
The top trips

Where Lawrence clocks in

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

How far

Half of Lawrence commutes less than 11 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: 18% · 12.3 miCecil: 9% · 3.5 miSouth Fayette: 4% · 5.5 miPeters: 4% · 3 miNorth Strabane: 4% · 5.5 miMoon: 3% · 15 miUpper St. Clair: 3% · 3 miCollier: 2% · 6.8 miCanonsburg: 2% · 4.3 miRobinson: 2% · 10.7 miPittsburgh 18%Cecil 9%South Fayette 4%Peters 4%North Strabane 4%Lawrence
LawrenceTop destinations (size = commuters)
42%Under 10 mi236 residents
41%10–24 mi235 residents
7%25–50 mi38 residents
10%Over 50 mi58 residents

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

Next door

13% of Lawrence works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Cecil (9%). Darker towns draw more of Lawrence’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Lawrence20 min
Cecil27 min
Peters30 min
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 Lawrence

Lawrence home →

Commuter talk

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

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Lawrence worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

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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