Lehigh Valley Commuting times (Bethlehem, Lansdale: how much, home, transfer to)

[toobusytoday]

I just read this article from my FB feed from Lehigh Valley times regarding the average commute from our area.

How much time do Lehigh Valley commuters spend in their cars? | lehighvalleylive.com

I thought it was interesting to see average commutes because if you went by this forum, you would think many people commute to NYC, but they really don't. Everyone I know that commutes outside of PA, does just a two day a week commute to NYC and works from home the rest of the week or works as a pilot at EWR. And that's it. Everyone else works at Air Products, Lutron, LVH, Local College or School, local small business, non-profit or has their own business that they work from home. I personally commute about 15 minutes (depends on if I hit the one light right or if there are school buses) and my husband has about a 20 minute commute and only has to watch out for deer. He's been jumped a couple of times!

[blazerj]

Wow. Seems pretty accurate to me. About 13,000 people commute >1 hour (meaning they work west past Summitt or south past KOP). That's not as much of a bedroom community as I would have believed.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by blazerj

Wow. Seems pretty accurate to me. About 13,000 people commute >1 hour (meaning they work west past Summitt or south past KOP). That's not as much of a bedroom community as I would have believed.

That's out of 321,000 people in Lehigh and Northampton counties. The majority commute 30 minutes or less.

I'd like to see the commute times by counties, not townships. My townships aren't even listed.

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

That's out of 321,000 people in Lehigh and Northampton counties. The majority commute 30 minutes or less.

I'd like to see the commute times by counties, not townships. My townships aren't even listed.

In this study:
Northampton County had 141,494 people and 16,143 commuted >1 hour or 11%
Lehigh County had 163,545 people and 12,837 commuted >1 hour or 8%

I'm surprised that Northampton had more commuters, since Lehigh County is closer to NJ. Maybe people are driving to Philly?

The issue is the pay and type of job. For healthcare people, there is no need/ reason to commute and the LV pays more than the big cities for doctors. Similarly, for minimum wage type jobs, why commute? But for generic corporate jobs (pay between 70K and 200K) there are not that many here.

The study would be interesting to see with job and salary range.

[flyonpa]

Northampton is closer to NJ then Lehigh is.

My Commute from Bethlehem Twp Very Close to PA33/Freemansburg ave exit to Clinton NJ, Started as a ~35min drive when I moved to PA in 1992, (Down Freemansburg, Up and around past the dump on to I78). Over the years the commute got heaver and longer going to about 45-55min, By the time PA33 open and i would "Backtrack some to take it" (Little longer, but faster then doing the local roads up to I78 @ MorganHill exit) The commute was in the 55-70 min range on a "normal" day, any problem on I78 that would go to 75-90min real fast, (Often if there was a issue on I78 I would turn around and go back home and telecommute to work for the day.)

The longer and longer commute was a factor in me taking a Transfer to Atlanta.

[toobusytoday]

I agree with flyonpa - You have to go through Northampton county (East to West) to get to Lehigh county. https://www.digital-topo-maps.com/co...sylvania.shtml Lehigh does not border NJ. We're closer to Philly than NYC where I live and I do know people that work in Bucks, Berks and Montgomery county, but no one that works in Philly. Not sure why that is because you could take the Bieber from Quakertown as easily as people take it from Hellertown.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by blazerj

In this study:
Northampton County had 141,494 people and 16,143 commuted >1 hour or 11%
Lehigh County had 163,545 people and 12,837 commuted >1 hour or 8%

I'm surprised that Northampton had more commuters, since Lehigh County is closer to NJ. Maybe people are driving to Philly?

The issue is the pay and type of job. For healthcare people, there is no need/ reason to commute and the LV pays more than the big cities for doctors. Similarly, for minimum wage type jobs, why commute? But for generic corporate jobs (pay between 70K and 200K) there are not that many here.

The study would be interesting to see with job and salary range.

I've heard you say that about there not being so many high paying jobs here, but I don't find that to be the case. I'm guessing that's because of perhaps the difference in our ages and where we live? Teacher salaries throughout the LV start at $45,000 and most families have two wage earners. Lutron employs a lot of people where I live and there are a lot of engineers there. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Lut...es-E112848.htm

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

I've heard you say that about there not being so many high paying jobs here, but I don't find that to be the case. I'm guessing that's because of perhaps the difference in our ages and where we live? Teacher salaries throughout the LV start at $45,000 and most families have two wage earners. Lutron employs a lot of people where I live and there are a lot of engineers there. https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Lut...es-E112848.htm

I guess it depends on your definition of high paying. I'm referring to middle-management corporate type jobs in NJ (like J&J, Prudential, Merck, Honeywell...) or Suburban PA (AmerisourceBergen, Lincoln Financial...).

Out of this list, I see Air Products, B.Braun, Lutron (removing the companies likely to have large hourly staff) and how many say $70,000 to $150,000 jobs do they have?

There are no Big Pharma, Large Financial Institutions and very few Large F500 companies in the LV. The economy really is built around Hospitals & Education (which isn't a bad thing at all).

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by blazerj

I guess it depends on your definition of high paying. I'm referring to middle-management corporate type jobs in NJ (like J&J, Prudential, Merck, Honeywell...) or Suburban PA (AmerisourceBergen, Lincoln Financial...).

Out of this list, I see Air Products, B.Braun, Lutron (removing the companies likely to have large hourly staff) and how many say $70,000 to $150,000 jobs do they have?

There are no Big Pharma, Large Financial Institutions and very few Large F500 companies in the LV. The economy really is built around Hospitals & Education (which isn't a bad thing at all).

Thanks for that explanation, I think my definition of high paying is different then yours. I am happy enough with what business and companies that are here, I'm not interested in living in a little Manhattan or an area that's all about keeping up with the neighbors. We do have many people from Merck that live in our area that commute from Lansdale or NJ, guess that's our big Pharma.

[PBToast]

I would agree most people like to live about 30 minutes or less to their jobs. But as FlyonPA noted, sometimes the commute gets longer over the years. My commute was originally 30 minutes and it's now 40, and I keep finding shortcuts! But I think I've come to the end of those and this is the best I can do!

In the past I have commuted (from the same location basically) to Rutgers in New Brunswick, as well as Bryn Mawr for a number of years. Bryn Mawr was an hour, and New Brunswick was 1 hour 20 minutes. My husband commuted from central Bucks to up near Monmouth NJ for 4 years. Not every commute lasts forever, but it's doable for a time certainly. For the money or experience. Then when a closer job comes along you grab it!

I know one person who commutes to Air Products probably 45-50 minutes from Harleysville because his wife works in Philly. Sometimes you have to be halfway to somewhere.

I think people who want to try should give it a go and see how it works for them. It can be done, and then perhaps down the road if they like the area they are living in they will find something closer eventually.