Photo: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0Brighton’s household incomes are higher than in 63% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.6 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 11.9 in Rochester. 8.9% of residents are in poverty, where New York as a whole has 14.0%. Jobs and income earn Brighton B+; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Brighton
Much of Brighton works one town over
54% of working residents work in a town that borders Brighton: Rochester (35%), Henrietta (11%) and Pittsford (4%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Brighton are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 123 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Brighton residents work close to home
75% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
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.
The figures behind Brighton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brighton is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #219 of 758 in New York. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brighton could be anywhere from B to A.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brighton workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,982 commuters (the 22% 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 distance from Brighton to work
About 15% 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.
Brighton fills up on a workday
On a workday 14,409 residents head out to work, 1,480 work right here, and 20,216 people come in from elsewhere.
About 43,000 people are in Brighton on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.37 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
35% of working residents work in Rochester
Where Brighton clocks in
35% of workers
11% of workers
4% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Brighton
21,696 jobs are based in Brighton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brighton, 2014 → 2024: 24,813 → 21,696. 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 Brighton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Brighton
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brighton is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #228 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.8% 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 19,105 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 90% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% 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). 7.3% of Brighton households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Brighton’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Brighton is 514th of 1,162 U.S. towns of 26,000 to 50,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Eastchester NY | 34,015 | $156K | 4.8% | 2.6% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Clifton Park NY | 37,775 | $133K | 2.3% | 2.0% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Valley Stream NY | 40,379 | $133K | 5.5% | 2.8% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 512 | Hurst TX | 38,974 | $72K | 10.6% | 2.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 513 | Ocean Township NJ | 28,088 | $109K | 8.2% | 5.3% | 11% | B+ |
| 514 | Brighton NY | 36,695 | $85K | 8.9% | 3.9% | 9% | B+ |
| 515 | Maplewood MN | 40,717 | $91K | 11.2% | 4.0% | 5% | B+ |
| 516 | Tualatin OR | 28,139 | $104K | 10.0% | 4.4% | 14% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,162 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Brighton, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Bordering towns draw 54% of Brighton’s workers
The biggest share goes to Rochester (35%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brighton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | – | B+ | A | 17 min | $85,467 |
| Penfield | 2% | A | B+ | 20 min | $119,154 |
| Rochester | 35% | C− | A+ | 19 min | $47,213 |
| Chili | under 2% | A− | B | 21 min | $89,793 |
| Henrietta | 11% | B | A | 18 min | $85,943 |
| Pittsford | 4% | A+ | A | 19 min | $145,581 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | under 2% | — | — | 12 min | — |
| Irondequoit | 2% | B+ | A− | 20 min | $79,162 |
Same-state neighbors only. Rochester Institute of Technology: 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 Brighton’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 Brighton: questions
What is the median household income in Brighton?
$85,467 (±$10,078) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brighton?
8.9%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brighton?
17 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brighton work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rochester (35%, 4 mi), Henrietta (11%, 5 mi), Pittsford (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Brighton walkable?
Brighton is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brighton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brighton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brighton
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.