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Work & commute in Willow Grove · Balanced

96% of Willow Grove’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Willow Grove for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Philadelphia (22%), Abington (7%) and Upper Moreland (7%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Work in town
4%
303 of 7,253 working residents
Typical commute
10 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
26 min
Less than PA (26 min)
Work from home
22%
More than PA (16%)
Jobs based here
6,979
Balanced

What kind of work town is Willow Grove?

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

★ What stands out · Time on the road

About 26 minutes each way, about the PA average

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

A year of commuting
201 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Willow Grove26 min
Pennsylvania26 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
22%

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

About 2 in 10
The commute map

22% of working residents work in Philadelphia

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

Philadelphia: 1,613 residents work here (22%)Abington: 478 residents work here (7%)Cheltenham: 116 residents work here (2%)Upper Moreland: 475 residents work here (7%)Plymouth: 110 residents work here (2%)Horsham: 374 residents work here (5%)Warminster: 186 residents work here (3%)BristolUpper Merion: 150 residents work here (2%)Upper Dublin: 241 residents work here (3%)WarringtonBensalem: 134 residents work here (2%)Willow GrovePhiladelphiaAbingtonUpper MorelandHorshamUpper DublinWarminsterWillow Grove
1
Philadelphia9.6 mi away
22%1,613
2
Abington2.3 mi away
7%478
37%475
4
Horsham4.4 mi away
5%374
5
Upper Dublin3.3 mi away
3%241
6
Warminster4.1 mi away
3%186
7
Upper Merion14.5 mi away
2%150
8
Bensalem9.6 mi away
2%134
9
Cheltenham4.9 mi away
2%116
10
Plymouth9.8 mi away
2%110
Everywhere elseother towns and states
47%3,376
The top trips

Where Willow Grove clocks in

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

Day and night

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,950 residents head out to work, 303 work right here, and 6,676 people come in from elsewhere.

6,950live here, work elsewhere
303live and work here
6,676work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night14,000
Workday14,000
14,000live here− 7,000head out to work+ 6,700come in to work= 14,000on a workday

About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.96jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

About as many jobs as working residents (0.96 per resident).

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Willow Grove commutes less than 10 miles

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

10 mi25 mi30 miPhiladelphia: 22% · 9.6 miAbington: 7% · 2.3 miUpper Moreland: 7% · 1 miHorsham: 5% · 4.4 miUpper Dublin: 3% · 3.3 miWarminster: 3% · 4.1 miUpper Merion: 2% · 14.5 miBensalem: 2% · 9.6 miCheltenham: 2% · 4.9 miPlymouth: 2% · 9.8 miPhiladelphia 22%Abington 7%Upper Moreland 7%Horsham 5%Upper Dublin 3%Willow Grove
Willow GroveTop destinations (size = commuters)
51%Under 10 mi3,660 residents
38%10–24 mi2,734 residents
5%25–50 mi332 residents
7%Over 50 mi504 residents

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

The jobs

What the 6,979 jobs in Willow Grove are

6,979 jobs are based in Willow Grove. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Willow Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Willow GroveJobs Willow Grove residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms7%13%
Trade, transport & utilities44%18%
Services: health, schools, offices49%69%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less26%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month31%19%
Over $3,333 a month43%69%

Who does it

29 or younger33%18%
30 to 5441%54%
55 and older25%28%
−21%

Jobs based in Willow Grove, 2013 → 2023: 8,796 → 6,979. 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.

Next door

10% of Willow Grove works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Abington (7%). Darker towns draw more of Willow Grove’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Willow Grove26 min
Upper Dublin28 min
Abington29 min
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 Willow Grove

Willow Grove home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Willow Grove, 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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