Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Albany has 3.3 jobs for every working resident: 107,281 people commute in to work
124,067 jobs are based in Albany for 38,068 working residents. Albany grades C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. About two in five stay in Albany for work; outside it, Colonie is the main destination (13%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Albany stands out on work
Albany has far more jobs than workers
Albany has 124,067 jobs, 3.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 188,000 people are in town, 85% more than the 102,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Albany are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
The jobs in Albany pay better than its residents’ jobs
79% of the jobs based in Albany pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 61% of the jobs Albany residents hold. 86% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Albany. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Albany is services
90% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 4% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Albany’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Albany is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #602 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Albany’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (22.9%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Albany could be anywhere from C− to C.
How a workday changes Albany
On a workday 21,282 residents head out to work and 16,786 work right here.
About 188,000 people are in Albany on a workday afternoon, 85% more than live here.
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 long Albany spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Albany workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 43,396 commuters (the 13% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Albany
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Albany, 2013 → 2023: 116,027 → 124,067. 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.
Where the people who work in Albany live
Where Albany clocks in
13% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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.
Half of Albany commutes less than 4 miles
About 20% 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.
Albany is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Albany is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #56 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Albany near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 49,999 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 74% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 21.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% 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). 24.0% of Albany households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 12% of Albany’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Ranked on jobs and income, Albany is 381st among 424 U.S. towns of 71,000 to 137,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Smithtown NY | 116,847 | $153K | 4.2% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Greenburgh NY | 94,537 | $152K | 5.8% | 5.2% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Colonie NY | 86,837 | $102K | 7.3% | 3.2% | 25% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 379 | Yuma AZ | 105,227 | $65K | 15.5% | 6.3% | 60% | C |
| 380 | Wilmington DE | 73,512 | $59K | 21.4% | 7.3% | 21% | C |
| 381 | Albany NY | 101,698 | $62K | 22.9% | 7.8% | 44% | C |
| 382 | Lynchburg VA | 81,347 | $58K | 18.6% | 5.3% | 48% | C |
| 383 | Johnson City TN | 74,943 | $57K | 20.3% | 5.6% | 44% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 424 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 New York.
18% of Albany works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Albany workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany | – | C | A+ | 20 min | $61,986 |
| Bethlehem | 2% | A | B | 22 min | $123,893 |
| Guilderland | 3% | A | A− | 21 min | $112,273 |
| Colonie | 13% | A− | A− | 20 min | $101,676 |
| Roessleville | under 1% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Rensselaer | under 1% | B− | A | 22 min | $70,080 |
| Westmere | under 1% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Menands | under 1% | A− | A | 21 min | $80,583 |
| Loudonville | under 1% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Roessleville, Westmere and Loudonville: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Colonie. Darker towns draw more of Albany’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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?
$61,986 (±$2,652) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Albany?
22.9%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Albany?
20 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Albany work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Colonie (13%, 5 mi), New York City (7%, 139 mi), Guilderland (3%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Albany walkable?
Albany is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 22% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Albany without a car?
12% of commuters take transit and 24% of households have no car. 74% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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.