Lyman P. Akins House · Photo: Maddmonkey · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Berkshire commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Berkshire has 89 jobs; 592 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Berkshire are C+ for jobs and income and D for walkability. 4% of workers work from home, next to 15% for New York as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Berkshire apart on work
Berkshire is a place people come home to
There are 89 jobs based in Berkshire, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Berkshire has about 960 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A longer commute than the towns next door
Berkshire averages 35 minutes each way, more than any bordering town (21 to 30 minutes). Next door ↓
Few Berkshire workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 15% across New York. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 592 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Berkshire earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Berkshire is better than 42% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Berkshire’s grade up (9.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (7.1%) is left out: Berkshire’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Berkshire could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Who commutes out of Berkshire, and who commutes in
On a workday 579 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 76 people come in from elsewhere.
About 960 people are in Berkshire on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 35 minutes to work from Berkshire
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Berkshire workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 500 commuters (the 4% 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.
13% of working residents work in Ithaca
Where Berkshire clocks in
13% 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.
Berkshire makes things: 69% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Berkshire, 2014 → 2024: 92 → 89. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Berkshire’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Berkshire, by distance
About 21% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Berkshire is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Berkshire is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Berkshire 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 520 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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). 5.7% of Berkshire households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Berkshire’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Berkshire is 2,734th of 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 5 | Saddle Rock NY | 1,008 | $176K | 0.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,732 | Haven KS | 1,169 | $59K | 9.1% | 4.5% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,733 | Gilmore Township MI | 1,352 | $81K | 7.5% | 3.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,734 | Berkshire NY | 1,460 | $75K | 9.6% | 7.1% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,735 | Cloverland WI | 1,092 | $63K | 2.6% | 2.6% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,736 | Grover WI | 1,754 | $72K | 6.1% | 0.9% | 2% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Berkshire, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Next door to Berkshire
The biggest share goes to Newark Valley (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Berkshire workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkshire | – | C+ | D | 35 min | $74,881 |
| Caroline | under 3% | C+ | C− | 21 min | $80,855 |
| Candor | under 3% | D | C | 28 min | $49,036 |
| Richford | under 3% | C− | D− | 30 min | $65,833 |
| Newark Valley | 5% | B− | D | 29 min | $80,938 |
| Lisle | under 3% | D | C+ | 28 min | $69,375 |
| Nanticoke | under 3% | C− | C | 23 min | $69,432 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Berkshire’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 2024, 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 Berkshire: questions
What is the median household income in Berkshire?
$74,881 (±$17,910) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Berkshire?
9.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Berkshire?
35 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Berkshire work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ithaca (13%, 21 mi), Ithaca (9%, 20 mi), Lansing (6%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Berkshire walkable?
Berkshire is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.7 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Berkshire without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Berkshire, from the people who make the trip.
More of Berkshire
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.