Every workday, about 1,000 people come to Smoketown for work
Most working residents leave Smoketown for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are East Lampeter Township (16%), Lancaster (10%) and Manheim Township (8%). Half commute less than 8 miles.
Smoketown’s population more than triples on a workday
On a workday 190 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 998 people come in from elsewhere.
190live here, work elsewhere
2live and work here
998work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night340
Workday1,200
340live here− 190head out to work+ 1,000come in to work= 1,200on a workday
About 1,200 people are in Smoketown on a workday afternoon, 236% more than live here.
Job hub or commuter town?
5.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The jobs
Smoketown makes things: 37% of its jobs are in goods
1,000 jobs are based in Smoketown. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Smoketown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Jobs based in SmoketownJobs Smoketown residents hold
What kind of work
Goods: factories, building, farms37%24%
Trade, transport & utilities14%27%
Services: health, schools, offices48%49%
What it pays
$1,250 a month or less11%17%
$1,251–$3,333 a month23%21%
Over $3,333 a month67%62%
Who does it
29 or younger33%26%
30 to 5444%45%
55 and older23%29%
+33%
Jobs based in Smoketown, 2013 → 2023: 754 → 1,000. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Time on the road
About 22 minutes each way, quicker than most of Pennsylvania
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
A year of commuting
170 hours
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
Smoketown22 min
Pennsylvania26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
17%
of Smoketown workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.
About 2 in 10
The commute map
Where Smoketown’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Every worker, home to work. The 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.
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Where the employer says. A 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.
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Two surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
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Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.
8% of workers