Photo: Mitchazenia · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Alden (5.7%) than in 71% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Alden itself; outside it, Alden draws the most (15%, 1 miles). Alden grades B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 6% of workers have no commute at all, against 15% across New York.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Alden and work: the main findings
Alden trades workers with the towns around it
Alden has about as many jobs (1,255) as working residents (1,283), but they are mostly different people: 1,163 residents leave for work each day while 1,135 people come in. Only 10% of the jobs in Alden are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Alden and Alden trade workers both ways
Alden is the top workplace for Alden residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Alden come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Alden: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Alden is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #408 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Alden’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alden could be anywhere from C to A.
Who leaves Alden for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,163 residents head out to work, 120 work right here, and 1,135 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 (0.98 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.
The places Alden commutes to
Where Alden clocks in
15% 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.
Jobs in Alden: what the 1,255 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alden, 2013 → 2023: 1,196 → 1,255. 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 Alden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 29 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alden workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,285 commuters (the 6% 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.
Half of Alden commutes less than 14 miles
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 Alden gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alden is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #357 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 32.9% across New York.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,366 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, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 4.3% of Alden households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Alden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700, Alden comes 2,256th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 10 | Laurel Hollow NY | 1,949 | $250K | 3.5% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,254 | Pine Hills CA | 2,875 | $78K | 16.1% | 0.9% | 1% | B− |
| 2,255 | Sumiton AL | 2,511 | $66K | 15.9% | 2.3% | 6% | B− |
| 2,256 | Alden NY | 2,755 | $71K | 7.6% | 5.7% | 9% | B− |
| 2,257 | Roaring Spring PA | 2,280 | $63K | 13.4% | 1.7% | 9% | B− |
| 2,258 | Elsah Township IL | 2,093 | $74K | 5.9% | 6.8% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | 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 Alden, 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 Alden: questions
What is the median household income in Alden?
$70,541 (±$11,681) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alden?
7.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alden?
29 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alden work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Alden (15%, 1 mi), Buffalo (12%, 18 mi), Amherst (11%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alden walkable?
Alden is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alden
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.