Work & commute · Rice

Work & commute in Rice, PA

Most working residents leave Rice for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Wilkes-Barre (15%), Wright (10%) and Plains (7%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

42 of 1,677 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,635 Rice residents head out of town to work, 42 work right here, and 199 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rice.

1,635live here, work elsewhere

42live and work here

199work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rice goes to work

Wilkes-Barre6.5 mi away

15%251

Wright2.8 mi away

10%172

Plains9.2 mi away

7%113

Hanover3 mi away

5%85

Fairview3.3 mi away

4%62

Wilkes-Barre6.1 mi away

3%44

Hazle14.7 mi away

3%44

Rice (in town)right here

3%42

Pittston14.9 mi away

2%37

Kingston7.5 mi away

2%36

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%791

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

How far

How far Rice commutes

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

49%

23%

12%

15%

49%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rice is a commuter town

0.14jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Rice are

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

Jobs based in Rice

241 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)88%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Rice residents hold

1,677 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month68%

−20%

Jobs based in Rice, 2013 → 2023: 301 → 241. 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.