What does this measure?

The type of transportation that workers over the age of 16 use daily to commute to work, expressed as a percentage of all workers with jobs outside the home.

Why is this important?

Commuting patterns may reflect the transportation choices available to workers in a region, the locations of available employers, and issues of poverty. These patterns also can impact environmental and transportation planning in a region.

How is our county performing?

In 2013-17, the vast majority of people in Berks County drove to work alone (83%), compared to 10% who carpooled, 2% who used public transportation and 5% who biked, walked or used other means of transportation. These commuting patterns have not changed since 2000. In the Central region of the county, carpooling was more common, at 17%, and more people used public transportation (5%) or walked and biked (8%). In the other regions of the county, at least 86% of commuters drove alone.

Statewide, slightly more people in 2013-17 used public transportation, at 6%, than in Berks County. The national figure was similar to the state, at 5%. Slightly fewer people drove to work alone at the state and national levels (both at 80%).

Workers used similar means of transportation in neighboring counties, and like Berks, they also saw few changes in commuting patterns from 2000 to 2013-17. In Schuylkill County, however, transportation patterns had shifted slightly. Driving alone was up 4 percentage points since 2000, at 86%, and carpooling was down 3 points, at 10%.

In the City of Reading, 61% of people drove to work alone, 21% carpooled, 8% used public transportation and 11% biked, walked or used other means.

Notes about the data

For additional detail as to how the Berks County regions are defined and which boroughs and townships are included in each, see the About Us page.

There may be additional research available on this topic. Click on Reports and Resources to learn more.

The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released annually in December.