Work & commute · Pottstown

Work & commute in Pottstown, PA

Most working residents leave Pottstown for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Philadelphia (7%), Limerick (4%) and Upper Merion (4%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

1,186 of 10,960 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 9,774 Pottstown residents head out of town to work, 1,186 work right here, and 7,211 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Pottstown.

9,774live here, work elsewhere

1,186live and work here

7,211work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Pottstown goes to work

Pottstown (in town)right here

11%1,186

Philadelphia31.8 mi away

7%798

Limerick6 mi away

4%453

Upper Merion17.8 mi away

4%392

Upper Providence10.1 mi away

3%297

Tredyffrin16.3 mi away

3%276

Lower Pottsgrove2.6 mi away

2%255

Lower Providence14 mi away

2%193

Phoenixville9.9 mi away

2%189

Plymouth20.7 mi away

1%149

Everywhere elseother towns and states

62%6,772

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

How far

How far Pottstown commutes

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

30%

44%

19%

30%Under 10 mi

44%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Pottstown is balanced between jobs and homes

0.77jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Pottstown are

8,397 jobs are based in Pottstown. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pottstown’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Pottstown

8,397 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Pottstown residents hold

10,960 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+3%

Jobs based in Pottstown, 2013 → 2023: 8,162 → 8,397. 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.