Photo: Unknown artistUnknown artist · Public domainHousehold incomes in Bolivar trail those of 79% of U.S. towns
Only 5% stay in Bolivar for work; outside it, Olean is the main destination (14%, 14 miles). 18.7% of residents live below the poverty line (New York 14.0%). Jobs and income earn Bolivar D; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Bolivar apart
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Bolivar
On income, poverty and job access, Bolivar is better than 8% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Bolivar’s grade.
Unemployment (9.0%) is left out: Bolivar’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, Bolivar could be anywhere from D− to C.
About 21 minutes each way for Bolivar’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bolivar workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 396 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.
Bolivar quiets down on a workday
On a workday 379 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 227 people come in from elsewhere.
About 850 people are in Bolivar on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.62 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The towns that employ Bolivar’s residents
Where Bolivar clocks in
14% of workers
11% of workers
8% 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 the 249 jobs in Bolivar are
249 jobs are based in Bolivar.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bolivar, 2013 → 2023: 153 → 249. 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 Bolivar’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Bolivar
About 29% 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.
The commute in Bolivar is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bolivar is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 5.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 453 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). 18.4% of Bolivar households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bolivar’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Bolivar is 2,661st among 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,659 | Pierce City MO | 1,275 | $51K | 31.8% | 5.2% | 4% | D |
| 2,660 | Burwell NE | 1,018 | $51K | 13.0% | 2.6% | 37% | D |
| 2,661 | Bolivar NY | 1,005 | $56K | 18.7% | 9.0% | 5% | D |
| 2,662 | Pleasant Hill Township IL | 1,178 | $57K | 14.9% | 2.3% | 6% | D |
| 2,663 | Otego Township IL | 1,382 | $54K | 18.2% | 3.0% | 6% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Bolivar, 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 Bolivar: questions
What is the median household income in Bolivar?
$56,413 (±$7,286) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bolivar?
18.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bolivar?
21 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bolivar work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Olean (14%, 14 mi), Wellsville (11%, 13 mi), Bolivar (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bolivar walkable?
Bolivar is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bolivar without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bolivar, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bolivar
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.