Work & commute · Upper Bern

Work & commute in Upper Bern, PA

Most working residents leave Upper Bern for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Tilden (6%), Maxatawny (5%) and Hamburg (5%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10 of 769 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 759 Upper Bern residents head out of town to work, 10 work right here, and 1,195 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Upper Bern.

759live here, work elsewhere

10live and work here

1,195work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Upper Bern goes to work

Tilden3.6 mi away

6%46

Maxatawny18.2 mi away

5%37

Hamburg6.4 mi away

5%36

Reading15 mi away

4%28

Muhlenberg12.1 mi away

4%27

Upper Macungie24.9 mi away

3%24

Bern9.5 mi away

3%21

Spring14.8 mi away

3%20

Perry7.9 mi away

2%17

Allentown32.7 mi away

2%15

Everywhere elseother towns and states

65%498

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

How far

How far Upper Bern commutes

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

22%

39%

26%

14%

22%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

26%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Upper Bern is a job hub

1.57jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Upper Bern are

1,205 jobs are based in Upper Bern. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Upper Bern’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Upper Bern

1,205 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities80%

Services (health, schools, offices…)16%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month42%

Jobs Upper Bern residents hold

769 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+42%

Jobs based in Upper Bern, 2013 → 2023: 850 → 1,205. 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.