Photo: Mwanner | Talk. Original uploader was Mwanner at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Brighton has 2.1 jobs for every working resident: 698 people commute in to work
The trip to work takes 18 minutes on average; New York averages 33, the U.S. 26. 717 jobs are based in Brighton, and 337 of its residents work somewhere. Brighton grades C for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Brighton: the gist
Brighton is where the jobs are
Brighton has 717 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Brighton are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 115 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Brighton and Harrietstown trade workers both ways
Harrietstown is the top workplace for Brighton residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Brighton come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 337 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Brighton: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Brighton is better than 30% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Brighton’s grade up (6.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (7.0%) is left out: Brighton’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, Brighton could be anywhere from D to B.
Who commutes out of Brighton, and who commutes in
On a workday 318 residents head out to work and 19 work right here.
About 1,500 people are in Brighton on a workday afternoon, 33% more 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 Brighton: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 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 565 commuters (the 12% 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.
Who travels to work in Brighton, and from where
Where Brighton clocks in
27% of workers
17% of workers
5% 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.
Most jobs in Brighton are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brighton, 2013 → 2023: 929 → 717. 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 Brighton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Brighton
About 25% 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 Brighton: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brighton is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 18.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 643 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). 0.8% of Brighton households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Brighton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Brighton next to U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600: 2,393rd of 4,312 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,391 | Atwood IL | 1,100 | $62K | 9.4% | 5.5% | 2% | C |
| 2,392 | Grass Township IN | 1,120 | $55K | 9.2% | 2.3% | 4% | C |
| 2,393 | Brighton NY | 1,167 | $66K | 6.8% | 7.0% | 6% | C |
| 2,394 | Wills Township OH | 1,519 | $65K | 8.4% | 11.6% | 4% | C |
| 2,395 | Penn Township PA | 1,194 | $70K | 8.3% | 4.9% | 8% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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 Brighton, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Bordering towns draw 27% of Brighton’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brighton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | – | C | B | 18 min | $65,750 |
| Santa Clara | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Franklin | under 2% | C− | C+ | 26 min | $88,456 |
| Duane | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Harrietstown | 27% | C | A− | 15 min | $66,460 |
Same-state neighbors only. Santa Clara and Duane: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Harrietstown. 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 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 Brighton: questions
What is the median household income in Brighton?
$65,750 (±$19,468) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brighton?
6.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brighton?
18 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brighton work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harrietstown (27%, 18 mi), North Elba (17%, 21 mi), Malone (5%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brighton walkable?
Brighton is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 19% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brighton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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), 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.