Palmer Brook Bridge · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Black Brook commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Black Brook report 111 jobs, and 585 of its residents work somewhere. Black Brook grades C for jobs and income and D for walkability. 3% of workers work from home; New York has 15%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Black Brook in brief
Black Brook is a place people come home to
There are 111 jobs based in Black Brook, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Black Brook has about 940 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Black Brook workers work from home
Only 3% 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 585 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Black Brook’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Black Brook is better than 28% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Black Brook’s grade up (7.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (4.5%) is left out: Black Brook’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Black Brook could be anywhere from D to B−.
Black Brook by day and by night
On a workday 577 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 103 people come in from elsewhere.
About 940 people are in Black Brook on a workday afternoon, 33% 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 2023, primary jobs.
The trip to work from Black Brook: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Black Brook workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 567 commuters (the 3% 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.
22% of working residents work in Plattsburgh
Where Black Brook clocks in
22% of workers
20% 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.
What Black Brook’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Black Brook, 2013 → 2023: 82 → 111. 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 Black Brook’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Black Brook
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting around Black Brook: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Black Brook is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 4.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 587 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.5% of Black Brook households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Black Brook’s commuters take a bus or train.
Black Brook next to U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900: 3,504th of 5,877 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 4 | Saddle Rock NY | 1,008 | $176K | 0.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,502 | Geneva Township MI | 1,067 | $62K | 10.1% | 9.5% | 1% | C |
| 3,503 | Shingobee Township MN | 1,725 | $75K | 10.6% | 7.0% | 17% | C |
| 3,504 | Black Brook NY | 1,417 | $68K | 7.5% | 4.5% | 1% | C |
| 3,505 | Port Edwards WI | 1,358 | $81K | 14.4% | 1.3% | 2% | C |
| 3,506 | Rosepine LA | 1,454 | $61K | 9.5% | 0.0% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Black Brook, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Next door to Black Brook
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Black Brook workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Brook | – | C | D | 32 min | $67,852 |
| Jay | under 2% | B− | C− | 28 min | $72,380 |
| Saranac | 2% | B− | D− | 22 min | $82,500 |
| Franklin | under 2% | C− | C+ | 26 min | $88,456 |
| Peru | 3% | B+ | B | 21 min | $101,771 |
| Wilmington | under 2% | B− | B− | 34 min | $82,344 |
| Au Sable | 3% | C | C− | 26 min | $95,069 |
| Redford | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Redford: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Peru. Darker towns draw more of Black Brook’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 Black Brook: questions
What is the median household income in Black Brook?
$67,852 (±$19,902) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Black Brook?
7.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Black Brook?
32 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Black Brook work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Plattsburgh (22%, 21 mi), Plattsburgh (20%, 19 mi), North Elba (6%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Black Brook walkable?
Black Brook is more walkable than 12% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Black Brook without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Black Brook, from the people who make the trip.
More of Black Brook
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.