Dr. Buck-Stevens House · Photo: Elijlyn · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Brasher commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Measured by household income, Brasher is behind 83% of U.S. towns. There are 317 jobs in Brasher, against 942 working residents. For jobs and income Brasher is better than 8% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Brasher apart on work
Commutes from Brasher 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 ↓
Few Brasher workers work from home
Only 2% 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 942 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Brasher: the grade in detail
Unemployment holds Brasher’s grade up (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brasher could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Getting to work from Brasher takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brasher workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,020 commuters (the 2% 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.
Brasher on a workday afternoon
On a workday 894 residents head out to work, 48 work right here, and 269 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Brasher on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
19% of working residents work in Potsdam
Where Brasher clocks in
14% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Brasher
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brasher, 2013 → 2023: 310 → 317. 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 Brasher’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Brasher’s workers travel
About 24% 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.
In Brasher, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 5.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,040 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). 14.0% of Brasher households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brasher’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,083 U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500, Brasher comes 4,558th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 10 | Laurel Hollow NY | 1,949 | $250K | 3.5% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,556 | Belmond IA | 2,420 | $57K | 19.8% | 4.1% | 27% | D |
| 4,557 | Healdton OK | 2,350 | $51K | 22.4% | 5.4% | 15% | D |
| 4,558 | Brasher NY | 2,570 | $54K | 22.4% | 4.8% | 5% | D |
| 4,559 | Springfield Township PA | 2,634 | $57K | 17.8% | 9.3% | 6% | D |
| 4,560 | Fort Defiance AZ | 3,351 | $56K | 13.3% | 11.2% | 28% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Brasher, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
18% of Brasher works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Massena (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brasher workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brasher | – | D | B− | 20 min | $53,911 |
| Lawrence | 2% | C− | C | 26 min | $64,318 |
| Massena | 14% | D | B+ | 19 min | $54,595 |
| Moira | under 2% | D | D | 32 min | $64,116 |
| Bombay | under 2% | D− | C | 26 min | $29,805 |
| Norfolk | under 2% | C | C | 25 min | $67,500 |
| Stockholm | 2% | C+ | D− | 23 min | $77,097 |
| Winthrop | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Winthrop: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brasher’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 Brasher: questions
What is the median household income in Brasher?
$53,911 (±$13,668) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brasher?
22.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brasher?
20 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brasher work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Potsdam (19%, 21 mi), Massena (14%, 7 mi), Akwesasne (7%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brasher walkable?
Brasher is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brasher without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brasher, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brasher
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.