Photo: J. Passepartout · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Bath earn less than those in 91% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Bath are D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 19.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 14.0% across New York. About one in seven work in Bath itself; outside it, Bath draws the most (29%, 1 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Bath: the gist
Commutes from Bath 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 ↓
Bath trades workers with the towns around it
Bath has about as many jobs (1,853) as working residents (2,024), but they are mostly different people: 1,681 residents leave for work each day while 1,510 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Bath are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Bath and Bath trade workers both ways
Bath is the top workplace for Bath residents (29%) and also where the most people who work in Bath come from (34% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Bath than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Bath fell from 3,143 in 2013 to 1,853 in 2023, −41%. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Bath’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bath is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #731 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Bath’s grade up (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($47,150, 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.
About 20 minutes each way for Bath’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 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 2,199 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.
The daily commute in and out of Bath
On a workday 1,681 residents head out to work, 343 work right here, and 1,510 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 (0.92 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 Bath commutes to
Where Bath clocks in
29% of workers
7% 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.
Inside Bath’s 1,853 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bath, 2013 → 2023: 3,143 → 1,853. 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 distance from Bath to work
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.
Most trips from Bath start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bath is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #380 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 2,514 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 60% 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). 20.4% of Bath households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bath’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bath next to U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 16 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,241 | Mancelona Township MI | 4,559 | $65K | 19.3% | 7.0% | 10% | D |
| 3,242 | Charleston MO | 4,731 | $34K | 25.8% | 5.0% | 26% | D |
| 3,243 | Bath NY | 5,545 | $47K | 19.7% | 6.7% | 17% | D |
| 3,244 | Donora PA | 4,462 | $40K | 29.6% | 12.7% | 10% | D |
| 3,245 | Sparta IL | 4,022 | $52K | 24.4% | 6.3% | 28% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,502 | 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 Bath, 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 Bath: questions
What is the median household income in Bath?
$47,150 (±$7,388) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bath?
19.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bath?
20 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?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bath (29%, 1 mi), Corning (7%, 19 mi), Urbana (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bath walkable?
Bath is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bath without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% 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.