Commuter balance
The commuter balance of a region indicates whether more workers come regularly from their place of residence to work in the region or whether more people who live in the region regularly leave them because their job is outside the region.
When more commuters come to the region, one speaks of an in- commuter surplus , often simply of a commuter surplus ; if more people leave to work than come in, one speaks of an out- commuter surplus . The corresponding numerical values have the unit “people”; Often they are shown as a percentage of jobs in the region for better comparability.
The commuter surplus is closely related to the relative job density and is an indicator of the economic strength of a region. A central location with a high number of commuters often “feeds” a considerable part of its immediate and possibly wider surroundings through the workplaces concentrated there, as is the rule in Germany for most regional centers and many medium-sized centers .
Places with a high excess of commuters are often referred to as satellite towns .