Photo: Caroline Tompkins · CC BY-SA 4.0Caroline has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 3% work in Caroline itself; outside it, Ithaca draws the most (27%, 11 miles). Employers in Caroline report 330 jobs; 1,398 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Caroline is better than 36% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (C−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Caroline
Commutes from Caroline are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Caroline than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Caroline fell from 518 in 2013 to 330 in 2023, −36%. 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 ↓
Caroline is a place people come home to
There are 330 jobs based in Caroline, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Caroline has about 2,100 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Caroline: the grade in detail
Household income holds Caroline’s grade up ($80,855, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (14.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Caroline could be anywhere from D to B+.
About 21 minutes each way for Caroline’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 Caroline workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,456 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.
65% of the jobs in Caroline pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Caroline, 2013 → 2023: 518 → 330. 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 Caroline’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Caroline, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,358 residents head out to work, 40 work right here, and 290 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Caroline on a workday afternoon, 34% 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.
Where the trip to work from Caroline ends
Where Caroline clocks in
27% of workers
22% 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.
Caroline’s commute, mile by mile
About 20% 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.
Driving is how Caroline gets around
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 4.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,869 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). 7.1% of Caroline households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Caroline’s commuters take a bus or train.
Caroline places 2,981st of 4,698 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 9 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Great Neck Estates NY | 3,139 | $238K | 5.7% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,979 | Mount Morris Township IL | 3,639 | $50K | 12.6% | 2.8% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,980 | Hancock ME | 2,593 | $72K | 8.2% | 4.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,981 | Caroline NY | 3,184 | $81K | 14.6% | 5.1% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,982 | Oakland Township PA | 2,707 | $74K | 11.6% | 6.0% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,983 | Saltlick Township PA | 2,908 | $72K | 6.5% | 11.1% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Caroline, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Caroline and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Dryden (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Caroline workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caroline | – | C+ | C− | 21 min | $80,855 |
| Richford | under 2% | C− | D− | 30 min | $65,833 |
| Berkshire | under 2% | C+ | D | 35 min | $74,881 |
| Danby | under 2% | A− | D− | 22 min | $99,886 |
| Dryden | 4% | C+ | B | 19 min | $81,127 |
| Candor | under 2% | D | C | 28 min | $49,036 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Caroline’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 Caroline: questions
What is the median household income in Caroline?
$80,855 (±$21,047) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Caroline?
14.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Caroline?
21 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 Caroline work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ithaca (27%, 11 mi), Ithaca (22%, 10 mi), Lansing (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Caroline walkable?
Caroline is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Caroline without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Caroline, from the people who make the trip.
More of Caroline
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.