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Work & commute in Whitfield · A commuter town

99% of Whitfield’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Whitfield for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Reading (12%), Spring (11%) and Wyomissing (6%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Work in town
1%
26 of 2,113 working residents
Typical commute
6 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
24 min
Less than PA (26 min)
Work from home
18%
More than PA (16%)
Jobs based here
723
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Whitfield?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

12% 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: 127 residents work here (6%)Sinking SpringWyomissing: 128 residents work here (6%)Reading: 263 residents work here (12%)Philadelphia: 46 residents work here (2%)Bern: 73 residents work here (3%)Spring: 240 residents work here (11%)Cumru: 61 residents work here (3%)Muhlenberg: 84 residents work here (4%)Exeter: 34 residents work here (2%)Lower HeidelbergMaxatawny: 56 residents work here (3%)West LawnSpringmontSpring RidgeWhitfieldReadingSpringWyomissingWest ReadingMuhlenbergBernWhitfield
1
Reading4.2 mi away
12%263
2
Spring2.4 mi away
11%240
3
Wyomissing2.1 mi away
6%128
4
West Reading3.1 mi away
6%127
5
Muhlenberg6 mi away
4%84
6
Bern4.3 mi away
3%73
7
Cumru4.9 mi away
3%61
8
Maxatawny19 mi away
3%56
9
Philadelphia51.3 mi away
2%46
10
Exeter9.1 mi away
2%34
Everywhere elseother towns and states
47%1,001
The top trips

Where Whitfield clocks in

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

How far

Half of Whitfield 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: 12% · 4.2 miSpring: 11% · 2.4 miWyomissing: 6% · 2.1 miWest Reading: 6% · 3.1 miMuhlenberg: 4% · 6 miBern: 3% · 4.3 miCumru: 3% · 4.9 miMaxatawny: 3% · 19 miPhiladelphia: 2% · 51.3 miExeter: 2% · 9.1 miReading 12%Spring 11%Wyomissing 6%West Reading 6%Muhlenberg 4%Whitfield
WhitfieldTop destinations (size = commuters)
58%Under 10 mi1,215 residents
13%10–24 mi273 residents
19%25–50 mi405 residents
10%Over 50 mi218 residents

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

Day and night

Whitfield quiets down on a workday

On a workday 2,087 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 697 people come in from elsewhere.

2,087live here, work elsewhere
26live and work here
697work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night5,200
Workday3,800
5,200live here− 2,100head out to work+ 700come in to work= 3,800on a workday

About 3,800 people are in Whitfield on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.34jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.34 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.

The jobs

What the 723 jobs in Whitfield are

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

Jobs based in WhitfieldJobs Whitfield residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms2%18%
Trade, transport & utilities30%18%
Services: health, schools, offices68%64%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less29%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month33%19%
Over $3,333 a month38%68%

Who does it

29 or younger23%19%
30 to 5450%53%
55 and older27%29%
−13%

Jobs based in Whitfield, 2013 → 2023: 832 → 723. 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 24 minutes each way, quicker than most of Pennsylvania

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

A year of commuting
185 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Whitfield24 min
Pennsylvania26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
18%

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

About 2 in 10
Next door

17% of Whitfield works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Spring (11%). Darker towns draw more of Whitfield’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 Whitfield

Whitfield home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Whitfield, 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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