Quote:
Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown
Yeah. But how far? Those 5 commuters aren't going all the way to NYC.
They're either staying in Mercer or driving into Middlesex County or thereabouts. That's what's so weird about the definition. How are commuters who live and work in Mercer County counted in that metric? As commuting to the NY metro, I presume?
I'd say more specifically, the areas south and east of Trenton are more squarely in the Philadelphia metro (ex. Hamilton Square, Robbinsville, Mercerville) and the areas north of Trenton -> NYC. NW of Trenton can go either way as much of that part of Mercer County feels indistinguishable from Bucks County imo.
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I'll answer my own question.
https://www.dvrpc.org/Reports/DB092.pdf
According to this study (which is a bit dated), roughly 68% of Mercer County residents work in Mercer County. Another 9% work in Middlesex County. That's 77%.
The number who work in PA versus every other state that's not PA, NJ, DE, or MD (this study was specifically done by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning commission which only includes those states) is roughly 4.57 (PA) versus 4.69 (All other states and Puerto Rico). That includes NY and every other state not listed above.
So the 5:1 stat is simply not true.
By comparison, 17% of Middlesex County residents commute to non-DVRPC states (i.e. most likely NY). It shows you how much stronger the ties to NY are just one county further away.