Photo: Jguard18 · CC BY-SA 3.0Buchanan’s household incomes are higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 5.7%, next to 14.0% for New York as a whole. Buchanan grades A+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 79.0 in New York City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Buchanan
Fewer jobs are based in Buchanan than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Buchanan fell from 1,780 in 2013 to 844 in 2023, −53%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Most jobs in Buchanan pay over $40,000 a year
78% of the jobs based in Buchanan pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
28% of Buchanan works in New York City
304 working residents, 28%, have their main job in New York City, 42 miles away. That’s 7 times as many as work in Buchanan itself. 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.
Buchanan’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Buchanan is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #26 of 758 in New York. Unemployment is its strongest input (1.1%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Buchanan could be anywhere from A− to A+.
78% of the jobs in Buchanan pay over $3,333 a month
844 jobs are based in Buchanan.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buchanan, 2013 → 2023: 1,780 → 844. 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 Buchanan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
28% of working residents work in New York City
Where Buchanan clocks in
28% of workers
17% 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.
Who commutes out of Buchanan, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,034 residents head out to work, 43 work right here, and 801 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Getting to work from Buchanan takes about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buchanan workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,026 commuters (the 14% 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.
Miles to work from Buchanan
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.
Buchanan is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Buchanan is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #269 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% 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 1,196 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 62% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 3.9% of Buchanan households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Buchanan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Buchanan is 163rd among 5,083 U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 161 | Concord WI | 1,964 | $108K | 1.3% | 2.2% | 2% | A+ |
| 162 | Newtown CT | 1,980 | $165K | 2.0% | 3.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 163 | Buchanan NY | 2,629 | $128K | 5.7% | 1.1% | 4% | A+ |
| 164 | Wrightsville Beach NC | 2,397 | $152K | 4.0% | 0.4% | 7% | A+ |
| 165 | Kingston Township OH | 2,690 | $112K | 3.9% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Buchanan, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
22% of Buchanan works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Cortlandt (17%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Buchanan workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buchanan | – | A+ | A− | 33 min | $128,218 |
| Cortlandt | 17% | B+ | A+ | 38 min | $140,030 |
| Peekskill | 5% | B− | A+ | 37 min | $85,954 |
| Montrose | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Verplanck | under 2% | — | — | 38 min | — |
| Stony Point | under 2% | A− | B+ | 35 min | $126,958 |
Same-state neighbors only. Montrose and Verplanck: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Buchanan’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 Buchanan: questions
What is the median household income in Buchanan?
$128,218 (±$22,837) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buchanan?
5.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buchanan?
33 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buchanan work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (28%, 42 mi), Cortlandt (17%, 2 mi), Mount Pleasant (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Buchanan walkable?
Buchanan is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Buchanan without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 62% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Buchanan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Buchanan
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.