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Work & commute in West Lawn · A commuter town

99% of West Lawn’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave West Lawn for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Reading (13%), Wyomissing (11%) and Spring (8%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Work in town
1%
9 of 835 working residents
Typical commute
6 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
21 min
Less than PA (26 min)
Work from home
17%
More than PA (16%)
Jobs based here
507
A commuter town

What kind of work town is West Lawn?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

13% of working residents work in Reading

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

West Reading: 41 residents work here (5%)Sinking SpringWyomissing: 91 residents work here (11%)Reading: 109 residents work here (13%)Philadelphia: 17 residents work here (2%)Bern: 16 residents work here (2%)Spring: 66 residents work here (8%)CumruEast Cocalico: 16 residents work here (2%)MaidencreekMuhlenberg: 23 residents work here (3%)Exeter: 21 residents work here (3%)Lower HeidelbergMaxatawny: 24 residents work here (3%)West LawnSpringmontWhitfieldReadingWyomissingSpringWest ReadingMaxatawnyMuhlenbergWest Lawn
1
Reading3.6 mi away
13%109
2
Wyomissing1.5 mi away
11%91
3
Spring2.5 mi away
8%66
4
West Reading2.5 mi away
5%41
5
Maxatawny18.9 mi away
3%24
6
Muhlenberg5.8 mi away
3%23
7
Exeter8.4 mi away
3%21
8
Philadelphia50.5 mi away
2%17
9
Bern4.8 mi away
2%16
10
East Cocalico9.4 mi away
2%16
Everywhere elseother towns and states
49%411
The top trips

Where West Lawn clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Pennsylvania

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
157 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

West Lawn21 min
Pennsylvania26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
17%

of West Lawn workers work from home, vs 16% across Pennsylvania. Their commute is the hallway.

About 2 in 10
How far

Half of West Lawn commutes less than 6 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi60 miReading: 13% · 3.6 miWyomissing: 11% · 1.5 miSpring: 8% · 2.5 miWest Reading: 5% · 2.5 miMaxatawny: 3% · 18.9 miMuhlenberg: 3% · 5.8 miExeter: 3% · 8.4 miPhiladelphia: 2% · 50.5 miBern: 2% · 4.8 miEast Cocalico: 2% · 9.4 miReading 13%Wyomissing 11%Spring 8%West Reading 5%Maxatawny 3%West Lawn
West LawnTop destinations (size = commuters)
58%Under 10 mi483 residents
15%10–24 mi123 residents
18%25–50 mi147 residents
10%Over 50 mi82 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

West Lawn makes things: 38% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in West LawnJobs West Lawn residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms38%21%
Trade, transport & utilities13%21%
Services: health, schools, offices49%58%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less17%15%
$1,251–$3,333 a month24%22%
Over $3,333 a month59%63%

Who does it

29 or younger27%22%
30 to 5449%54%
55 and older24%24%
+28%

Jobs based in West Lawn, 2013 → 2023: 397 → 507. 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.

Day and night

West Lawn quiets down on a workday

On a workday 826 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 498 people come in from elsewhere.

826live here, work elsewhere
9live and work here
498work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,400
Workday1,100
1,400live here− 830head out to work+ 500come in to work= 1,100on a workday

About 1,100 people are in West Lawn on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.61jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.61 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.

Next door

19% of West Lawn works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Wyomissing (11%). Darker towns draw more of West Lawn’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Two surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of West Lawn

West Lawn home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from West Lawn, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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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.

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