Work & commute · Plains

Work & commute in Plains, PA

Most working residents leave Plains for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Wilkes-Barre (17%), Scranton (4%) and Hanover (4%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

647 of 4,342 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,695 Plains residents head out of town to work, 647 work right here, and 11,252 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Plains.

3,695live here, work elsewhere

647live and work here

11,252work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Plains goes to work

Wilkes-Barre3.4 mi away

17%738

Plains (in town)right here

15%647

Scranton12.4 mi away

4%191

Hanover8 mi away

4%159

Pittston6 mi away

3%150

Kingston3.8 mi away

3%149

Jenkins3.5 mi away

3%140

Wilkes-Barre3.2 mi away

2%105

Philadelphia93.8 mi away

2%80

Dunmore15 mi away

2%75

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%1,908

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

How far

How far Plains commutes

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

61%

15%

18%

61%Under 10 mi

15%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Plains is a job hub

2.74jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Plains are

11,899 jobs are based in Plains. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Plains’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Plains

11,899 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Plains residents hold

4,342 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+2%

Jobs based in Plains, 2013 → 2023: 11,658 → 11,899. 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.