Work & commute in North Whitehall Township · A commuter town
93% of North Whitehall Township’s working residents leave town for work
Most working residents leave North Whitehall Township for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Allentown (11%), Upper Macungie Township (8%) and South Whitehall Township (8%). Half commute less than 10 miles.
Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Day and night
North Whitehall Township quiets down on a workday
On a workday 7,373 residents head out to work, 524 work right here, and 4,872 people come in from elsewhere.
7,373live here, work elsewhere
524live and work here
4,872work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night16,000
Workday13,000
16,000live here− 7,400head out to work+ 4,900come in to work= 13,000on a workday
About 13,000 people are in North Whitehall Township on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
Job hub or commuter town?
0.68 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
How far
Half of North Whitehall Township commutes less than 10 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
North Whitehall TownshipTop destinations (size = commuters)
51%
24%
12%
12%
51%Under 10 mi4,062 residents
24%10–24 mi1,867 residents
12%25–50 mi975 residents
12%Over 50 mi984 residents
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
The jobs
What the 5,396 jobs in North Whitehall Township are
5,396 jobs are based in North Whitehall Township. Here is what they are, next to the jobs North Whitehall Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Jobs based in North Whitehall TownshipJobs North Whitehall Township residents hold
What kind of work
Goods: factories, building, farms8%16%
Trade, transport & utilities27%22%
Services: health, schools, offices65%62%
What it pays
$1,250 a month or less13%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month26%20%
Over $3,333 a month60%67%
Who does it
29 or younger20%19%
30 to 5451%51%
55 and older29%30%
+12%
Jobs based in North Whitehall Township, 2013 → 2023: 4,807 → 5,396. 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 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Pennsylvania
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
A year of commuting
219 hours
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
North Whitehall Township29 min
Pennsylvania26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
18%
of North Whitehall Township workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
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.
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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.
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Two surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
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Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Is the commute from North Whitehall Township 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.
11% of workers
8% of workers
8% of workers