Work & commute · Lower Swatara

Work & commute in Lower Swatara, PA

Most working residents leave Lower Swatara for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Harrisburg (12%), Derry (9%) and Swatara (7%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

361 of 4,148 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,787 Lower Swatara residents head out of town to work, 361 work right here, and 12,168 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lower Swatara.

3,787live here, work elsewhere

361live and work here

12,168work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lower Swatara goes to work

Harrisburg7.8 mi away

12%490

Derry6.5 mi away

9%390

Lower Swatara (in town)right here

9%361

Swatara3.1 mi away

7%284

Lower Paxton7.2 mi away

5%208

Susquehanna8.9 mi away

4%167

Hampden12.1 mi away

3%104

Middletown1.9 mi away

2%98

West Donegal9.4 mi away

2%81

Lower Allen8.9 mi away

2%79

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%1,886

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

How far

How far Lower Swatara commutes

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

60%

18%

16%

60%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lower Swatara is a job hub

3.02jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Lower Swatara are

12,529 jobs are based in Lower Swatara. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lower Swatara’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lower Swatara

12,529 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities48%

Services (health, schools, offices…)24%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month68%

Jobs Lower Swatara residents hold

4,148 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+85%

Jobs based in Lower Swatara, 2013 → 2023: 6,766 → 12,529. 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.