Photo: Z28scrambler · CC BY-SA 3.0Albany’s household incomes are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 6.8% (Louisiana 18.9%). For jobs and income Albany is better than 44% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (B−). Only 3% stay in Albany for work; outside it, Hammond is the main destination (14%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Albany: the figures worth knowing
The better-paid jobs are outside Albany
59% of Albany residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 24% of the jobs based in Albany pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
53% of the jobs in Albany are in trade, transport and utilities, against 20% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Albany pay little
34% of the jobs based in Albany pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 35% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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 476 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Albany’s grade
The poverty rate holds Albany’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($46,591, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (2.2%) 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 C to B+.
What work there is in Albany: 406 jobs
406 jobs are based in Albany.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Albany, 2013 → 2023: 190 → 406. 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.
The daily commute in and out of Albany
On a workday 462 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 392 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.85 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Albany: the destinations
Where Albany clocks in
14% of workers
11% of workers
7% 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.
Getting to work from Albany takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Albany workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 310 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Louisiana: 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.
Miles to work from Albany
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.
Most of Albany commutes by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.3% across Louisiana, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 354 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). 8.8% of Albany households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Albany’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700, Albany comes 1,954th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 434 | Sorrento LA | 1,622 | $118K | 8.5% | 3.2% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 557 | Lockport Heights LA | 1,481 | $126K | 7.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 803 | Mathews LA | 1,598 | $87K | 6.0% | 1.6% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,952 | Western Lake TX | 1,165 | $34K | 5.8% | 33.9% | <1% | C+ |
| 1,953 | Porter Township PA | 1,503 | $73K | 8.6% | 1.3% | 5% | C+ |
| 1,954 | Albany LA | 1,244 | $47K | 6.8% | 2.2% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,955 | Nescopeck PA | 1,511 | $63K | 9.1% | 4.3% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,956 | Banks Township MI | 1,666 | $71K | 4.4% | 4.6% | 11% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Louisiana.
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?
$46,591 (±$14,660) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Albany?
6.8%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Albany?
28 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Albany work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hammond (14%, 8 mi), Baton Rouge (11%, 33 mi), Livingston (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Albany walkable?
Albany is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Albany without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% 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.