Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Akron trail those of 93% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Akron is better than 34% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (B+). The poverty rate is 6.9%, against 14.0% across New York. About one in seven work in Akron itself; outside it, Newstead draws the most (22%, 1 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Akron at work: what stands out
Akron makes and builds things
60% of the jobs based in Akron are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Akron residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. The jobs ↓
Akron and Newstead trade workers both ways
Newstead is the top workplace for Akron residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Akron come from (25% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Akron are quick
The average trip to work takes 27 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Akron pay over $40,000 a year
74% of the jobs based in Akron pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
Akron’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Job access by car holds Akron’s grade up (ahead of 69% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($44,935, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Akron could be anywhere from C− to B+.
A place that makes things: 60% of Akron’s jobs are in goods
1,706 jobs are based in Akron.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Akron, 2013 → 2023: 1,588 → 1,706. 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 Akron’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Akron commutes to
Where Akron clocks in
22% of workers
12% of workers
11% 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.
About 27 minutes each way for Akron’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Akron workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,095 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across New York: 57% drive alone, 25% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many people are in Akron by day
On a workday 1,054 residents head out to work, 200 work right here, and 1,506 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Akron on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 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.
How far it is to work from Akron
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.
Driving is how Akron gets around
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,236 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.8% of Akron households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Akron’s commuters take a bus or train.
Akron places 3,138th of 4,882 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 11 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,136 | Holiday Island AR | 2,440 | $53K | 3.1% | 6.6% | 8% | C |
| 3,137 | Boyne City MI | 3,793 | $65K | 7.8% | 5.0% | 22% | C |
| 3,138 | Akron NY | 2,867 | $45K | 6.9% | 8.0% | 16% | C |
| 3,139 | Sparta Township IN | 2,959 | $65K | 8.3% | 4.2% | 1% | C |
| 3,140 | Phoenix NY | 2,192 | $59K | 16.1% | 5.7% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,882 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Akron, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
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 Akron: questions
What is the median household income in Akron?
$44,935 (±$7,920) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Akron?
6.9%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Akron?
27 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Akron work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Newstead (22%, 1 mi), Amherst (12%, 13 mi), Buffalo (11%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Akron walkable?
Akron is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Akron without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Akron, from the people who make the trip.
More of Akron
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.