Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:N-Lange.de · CC BY-SA 3.0At 1.8%, unemployment in Ballston Spa is lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 21.9 in Albany. The two grades for Ballston Spa are A− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Measured by household income, Ballston Spa is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Ballston Spa in brief
Ballston Spa is where the jobs are
Ballston Spa has 3,749 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Ballston Spa are quick
The average trip to work takes 25 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Ballston Spa
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ballston Spa is better than 84% of U.S. towns, #127 of 758 in New York. Unemployment is its strongest input; the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (8.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ballston Spa could be anywhere from B to A+.
Who leaves Ballston Spa for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,076 residents head out to work, 242 work right here, and 3,507 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Ballston Spa on a workday afternoon, 29% more than live here.
1.6 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.
About 25 minutes each way for Ballston Spa’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ballston Spa workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,367 commuters (the 19% 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.
The towns that send workers to Ballston Spa
Where Ballston Spa clocks in
15% of workers
9% of workers
9% 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.
71% of the jobs in Ballston Spa pay over $3,333 a month
3,749 jobs are based in Ballston Spa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ballston Spa, 2013 → 2023: 3,577 → 3,749. 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 Ballston Spa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Ballston Spa
About 15% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Ballston Spa
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ballston Spa is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #222 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.1% 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 2,909 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% 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 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% 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). 3.0% of Ballston Spa households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Ballston Spa’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Ballston Spa is 672nd of 3,840 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 22 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 670 | Kensington CA | 5,179 | $237K | 3.6% | 7.6% | 3% | A− |
| 671 | Prairie Heights WA | 4,998 | $131K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 1% | A− |
| 672 | Ballston Spa NY | 4,900 | $102K | 8.5% | 1.8% | 10% | A− |
| 673 | Midway NC | 5,104 | $83K | 5.0% | 2.7% | 2% | A− |
| 674 | Castroville TX | 3,444 | $78K | 5.3% | 2.2% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Ballston Spa, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
How Ballston Spa compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ballston Spa workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballston Spa | – | A− | A | 25 min | $101,667 |
| North Ballston Spa | under 3% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Ballston Spa: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ballston Spa’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 Ballston Spa: questions
What is the median household income in Ballston Spa?
$101,667 (±$15,198) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ballston Spa?
8.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ballston Spa?
25 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ballston Spa work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Saratoga Springs (15%, 6 mi), Colonie (9%, 19 mi), Albany (9%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ballston Spa walkable?
Ballston Spa is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ballston Spa without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ballston Spa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ballston Spa
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.