Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Albany are lower than in 93% of U.S. towns
13.6% of residents live below the poverty line; Kentucky has 16.1%. For jobs and income Albany is better than 9% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (C). About one in five stay in Albany for work; outside it, Monticello is the main destination (5%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Albany, in a few figures
Albany is where the jobs are
Albany has 1,322 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Albany workers earn over $40,000 a year
35% of Albany’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Albany are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 643 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Albany’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Albany’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($44,007, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (3.3%) is left out: Albany’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Albany could be anywhere from D− to C.
The daily flow of workers through Albany
On a workday 501 residents head out to work, 142 work right here, and 1,180 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Albany on a workday afternoon, 39% more than live here.
2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The 1,322 jobs based in Albany
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Albany, 2013 → 2023: 1,724 → 1,322. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Albany’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Albany spends getting to work: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Albany workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 858 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Commuting in to Albany: where workers come from
Where Albany clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Miles to work from Albany
About 29% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Albany is mostly behind the wheel
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 882 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.6% of Albany households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Albany’s commuters take a bus or train.
Albany places 4,858th of 5,760 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Pewee Valley KY | 1,668 | $157K | 3.0% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Audubon Park KY | 1,457 | $101K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Coldstream KY | 1,325 | $109K | 2.8% | 0.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,856 | Andrews FL | 1,275 | $53K | 13.6% | 0.0% | 2% | D |
| 4,857 | Fredonia KS | 2,041 | $59K | 19.3% | 0.4% | 36% | D |
| 4,858 | Albany KY | 1,729 | $44K | 13.6% | 3.3% | 22% | D |
| 4,859 | Manton MI | 1,626 | $46K | 13.5% | 3.0% | 9% | D |
| 4,860 | Huntsville MO | 1,362 | $53K | 17.9% | 0.0% | 7% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Albany, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Albany: questions
What is the median household income in Albany?
$44,007 (±$7,180) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Albany?
13.6%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Albany?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Albany work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Monticello (5%, 19 mi), Burkesville (4%, 14 mi), Lexington (4%, 100 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Albany walkable?
Albany is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Albany without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Albany, from the people who make the trip.
More of Albany
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.