Work & commute · Luzerne

Work & commute in Luzerne, PA

Most working residents leave Luzerne for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Wilkes-Barre (17%), Plains (10%) and Kingston (7%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

55 of 1,176 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,121 Luzerne residents head out of town to work, 55 work right here, and 978 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Luzerne.

1,121live here, work elsewhere

55live and work here

978work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Luzerne goes to work

Wilkes-Barre3 mi away

17%198

Plains4.6 mi away

10%117

Kingston1.6 mi away

7%78

Hanover6.5 mi away

6%70

Luzerne (in town)right here

5%55

Forty Fort1.3 mi away

3%32

Scranton14.5 mi away

3%31

Wilkes-Barre4.1 mi away

3%30

Pittston9.6 mi away

2%29

Moosic11.5 mi away

2%24

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%512

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

How far

How far Luzerne commutes

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

68%

10%

18%

68%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Luzerne is balanced between jobs and homes

0.88jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.88 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Luzerne are

1,033 jobs are based in Luzerne. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Luzerne’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Luzerne

1,033 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities39%

Services (health, schools, offices…)47%

$1,250 a month or less28%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month35%

Jobs Luzerne residents hold

1,176 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month55%

+8%

Jobs based in Luzerne, 2013 → 2023: 957 → 1,033. 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.