Work & commute · Palmer

Work & commute in Palmer, PA

Most working residents leave Palmer for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Bethlehem (7%), Allentown (6%) and Easton (5%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

774 of 10,198 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 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 9,424 Palmer residents head out of town to work, 774 work right here, and 8,724 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Palmer.

9,424live here, work elsewhere

774live and work here

8,724work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Palmer goes to work

Palmer (in town)right here

8%774

Bethlehem7.6 mi away

7%739

Allentown13.6 mi away

6%578

Easton2.5 mi away

5%478

Bethlehem3.7 mi away

5%461

Forks3 mi away

4%399

Lower Nazareth3.2 mi away

3%327

Upper Macungie21.1 mi away

3%281

Philadelphia48.3 mi away

3%265

Fountain Hill9.8 mi away

3%263

Everywhere elseother towns and states

55%5,633

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

How far

How far Palmer commutes

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

45%

26%

15%

14%

45%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Palmer is balanced between jobs and homes

0.93jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.93 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Palmer are

9,498 jobs are based in Palmer. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Palmer’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Palmer

9,498 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities45%

Services (health, schools, offices…)35%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Palmer residents hold

10,198 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+28%

Jobs based in Palmer, 2013 → 2023: 7,426 → 9,498. 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.