Work & commute · Northampton

Work & commute in Northampton, PA

Most working residents leave Northampton for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Allentown (11%), Bethlehem (7%) and Upper Macungie (6%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

276 of 5,294 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,018 Northampton residents head out of town to work, 276 work right here, and 2,099 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Northampton.

5,018live here, work elsewhere

276live and work here

2,099work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Northampton goes to work

Allentown6.6 mi away

11%597

Bethlehem7.6 mi away

7%390

Upper Macungie10.9 mi away

6%294

Northampton (in town)right here

5%276

Whitehall2.3 mi away

4%220

Hanover5 mi away

4%196

South Whitehall5.6 mi away

3%174

Salisbury7 mi away

3%158

Hanover3.5 mi away

3%142

Fountain Hill7.6 mi away

2%132

Everywhere elseother towns and states

51%2,715

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

How far

How far Northampton commutes

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

57%

17%

11%

14%

57%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Northampton is a commuter town

0.45jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.45 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Northampton are

2,375 jobs are based in Northampton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Northampton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Northampton

2,375 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Northampton residents hold

5,294 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

−13%

Jobs based in Northampton, 2013 → 2023: 2,721 → 2,375. 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.