Photo: J. Passepartout · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Bath are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Bath; the top destination outside it is Corning (8%, 18 miles). 17.7% of residents live below the poverty line (New York 14.0%). For jobs and income Bath is better than 9% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Bath
Commutes from Bath are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Bath trades workers with the towns around it
Bath has about as many jobs (3,890) as working residents (4,100), but they are mostly different people: 3,000 residents leave for work each day while 2,790 people come in. Only 28% of the jobs in Bath are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Bath than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bath fell from 5,429 in 2013 to 3,890 in 2023, −28%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Bath
Job access by car holds Bath’s grade up (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($49,557, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bath could be anywhere from D to C−.
Commuting from Bath: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bath workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,185 commuters (the 12% 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.
Bath on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,000 residents head out to work, 1,100 work right here, and 2,790 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 (0.95 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.
What work there is in Bath: 3,890 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bath, 2013 → 2023: 5,429 → 3,890. 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 Bath’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Bath’s residents
Where Bath clocks in
8% of workers
6% 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.
Where in the region Bath works
About 23% 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.
Few in Bath walk, bike or ride to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,737 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 29% 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). 14.2% of Bath households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bath’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bath next to U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Hastings-on-Hudson NY | 8,440 | $194K | 2.3% | 4.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,390 | Pearsall TX | 9,170 | $49K | 28.0% | 4.9% | 22% | D |
| 2,391 | Orosi CA | 8,966 | $55K | 22.0% | 17.6% | 10% | D |
| 2,392 | Bath NY | 11,413 | $50K | 17.7% | 7.5% | 27% | D |
| 2,393 | Clarksville AR | 9,632 | $37K | 27.6% | 5.4% | 43% | D |
| 2,394 | Ironton OH | 10,148 | $48K | 23.7% | 6.8% | 22% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Bath, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Bath and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Urbana (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bath workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath | – | D | B− | 21 min | $49,557 |
| Urbana | 5% | C+ | B | 22 min | $76,845 |
| Avoca | under 2% | C | C+ | 26 min | $67,730 |
| Wheeler | under 2% | D | C− | 32 min | $59,688 |
| Bradford | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Howard | under 2% | C− | B− | 23 min | $73,906 |
| Cameron | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bradford: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Cameron: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bath’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 Bath: questions
What is the median household income in Bath?
$49,557 (±$2,744) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bath?
17.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bath?
21 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bath work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Corning (8%, 18 mi), Erwin (6%, 16 mi), Urbana (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bath walkable?
Bath is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bath without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bath, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bath
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.