Every workday, about 45,000 people come to Lower Merion for work
Most working residents leave Lower Merion for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Philadelphia (37%), Upper Merion (3%) and Tredyffrin (3%). Half commute less than 8 miles.
What kind of work town is Lower Merion?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
44% of Lower Merion works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Philadelphia (37%). Darker towns draw more of Lower Merion’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Pennsylvania
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lower Merion workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
48,298 jobs are based in Lower Merion. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lower Merion’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lower Merion, 2013 → 2023: 39,584 → 48,298. 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.
Lower Merion fills up on a workday
On a workday 23,310 residents head out to work, 3,396 work right here, and 44,902 people come in from elsewhere.
About 86,000 people are in Lower Merion on a workday afternoon, 34% more than live here.
1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Lower Merion’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Lower Merion clocks in
37% of workers
3% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Lower Merion commutes less than 8 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
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.
More of Lower Merion
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lower Merion, from the people who make the trip.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.