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As someone who used to go to school in Harrisburg and had class mates who lived in Philly and commuted, do not do this. Yes it is possible. No job is worth four hours on a train per day (two hrs each way). Maybe if its a once a week kinda thing, but every day? Don't torture yourself like that.

Yes. Some do it to get foot in the door...I found the commute time good for music and thinking. It also helps if you can work slightly off hours to avoid rush hour people. It can be done. Sometimes it made sense to stay over in motel...if too tired or sick

I know guys who did the commute from the Hbg area to Baltimore 5x a week. They'd leave home at 5 am, come back at 8 pm. Sleep, drive, work, drive, sleep. Few have kids.

Depends on where in "Harrisburg" you will be working. If you are working in downtown close to the station, ie, at the Capitol compound, doable but a pita. If you are working in "Harrisburg," which could be anything from Hershey to Carlisle, it might be undoable on some days and a major inconvenience every day you can make it work. Plus, the cost of the commute is likely to eat your earnings to nothingness.

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Nope. if you want to work in Harris burg, it would be best to move to that area. If it was only a 45 minute to an hour i'd just drive it. But 2hrs? If you work an 8 hr day you would be on the road 4 hrs a day. Doesn't sound like winning to me

The only question is how far from the Harrisburg Amtrak station to the office.

I commuted from Reading to Manhattan for 3 years. My office was a 30 minute walk from the PABT, so it wasn't too bad.

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Bradford is just a bit too far from D.C., unfortunately.

I did it by car for 3 years......it helps if you work a 4 day week. It is hard on family life. Usually took me 2 hours each way (quakertown to camp hill) Maybe carpool... If you can do by train in 2hours that is good...you can read etc on train...

Clearfield. Your best bet is actually probably to stay in Bradford

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My brother used to take AmTrack from 30th Street Station to Elizabethtown each day in order to work in Hershey. He parked his car in E-town, drove to Hershey, then parked and took the train home. He got a lot of work done on the train, as well. I would imagine that a similar situation could work for Harrisburg. Good luck!

A quick search of the Amtrak app shows it's almost 2 hrs each way. Let's say 20 work days in a month...that's almost 80 hrs lost per month.

Amtrak has monthly rail passes, which should make the cost more reasonable than daily tickets, but I couldn't find prices for those.

EDIT: I just found prices - looks like a monthly commuter pass for the Keystone line (which gets you one round trip per day for an entire month) is about $490 per month.

Thanks, my wife is leaning more towards Altoona as well, giving us a shorter drive after spending the day in D.C. and a longer drive when we don't have anything else planned.

Would you say Altoona over Clearfield?

I’d 2nd that! It’s a nice little university town. You’ll be able to find somewhere good to eat on Market St.

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Go through Altoona lots of places to stay and safe and lots of restaurants and places to shop

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While not tax related, consider wear and tear on your vehicle and value of your time. $250 per week net would be good if only doing it 10-20 hours a week. Otherwise, consider something else, such as working part time somewhere. Many places pay around $15 per hour.

Another consideration is car insurance. Be sure to add a rideshare endorsement (even though you're not transporting anyone) or similar (may be called something different) to your insurance policy. Some companies offer it at a nominal cost. Others don't and insist on commercial coverage (overkill for small-time gig work). Many drivers overlook the insurance coverage aspect at their peril.

Because the citizens elect enough corporate suck-up “representatives” who allow this to happen.

Presuming you have electric baseboard heat or something like that. That's fine in a pinch, but heating that way all winter will be very expensive.

Gas is generally the cheapest way to heat overall taking into account the upfront cost of the system and maintenance. Heat pumps, especially split systems, are very good, but less ideal for houses in the colder parts of PA.

Water / sewer varies widely, but doubt that's where the issue is. If it is, look at the bill carefully. If the usage seems way off, could be a leaky pipe pass the meter and/or the meter is faulty.

Without more detail, all anyone here can do is speculate. Hope you figure it out, since that amount is double or more what many pay.