Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Champlain are lower than in 74% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Champlain; the top destination outside it is Plattsburgh (15%, 19 miles). 14.2% of residents live below the poverty line, where New York as a whole has 14.0%. Jobs and income earn Champlain D; getting around on foot earns it C+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Champlain, in a few figures
Commutes from Champlain are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
47% of the jobs in Champlain are in trade, transport and utilities, against 30% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
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.
The figures behind Champlain’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Champlain’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Champlain could be anywhere from D to C+.
Champlain’s commute takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Champlain workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,062 commuters (the 10% 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.
What Champlain’s employers do
2,008 jobs are based in Champlain.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Champlain, 2013 → 2023: 2,329 → 2,008. 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 Champlain’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Champlain on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,830 residents head out to work, 724 work right here, and 1,284 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Champlain on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.79 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.
The towns that employ Champlain’s residents
Where Champlain clocks in
15% of workers
13% 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.
Champlain’s commute, mile by mile
About 23% 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.
Most of Champlain commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Champlain is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns, #548 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 5.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,284 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). 10.2% of Champlain households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Champlain’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,502 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,500, Champlain comes 3,092nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 16 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,090 | Mills WY | 4,634 | $51K | 15.0% | 8.1% | 8% | D |
| 3,091 | Castor Township MO | 4,651 | $57K | 14.2% | 6.5% | 10% | D |
| 3,092 | Champlain NY | 5,583 | $60K | 14.2% | 5.7% | 28% | D |
| 3,093 | Litchfield IL | 6,598 | $54K | 16.3% | 6.4% | 27% | D |
| 3,094 | Trenton MO | 5,557 | $50K | 18.1% | 4.1% | 36% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,502 | 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 Champlain, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns around Champlain
The biggest share goes to Chazy (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Champlain workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champlain | – | D | C+ | 24 min | $59,866 |
| Mooers | under 2% | C | C | 24 min | $61,361 |
| Chazy | 5% | B− | C+ | 21 min | $95,648 |
| Rouses Point | under 2% | D | C+ | 23 min | $46,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Champlain’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 Champlain: questions
What is the median household income in Champlain?
$59,866 (±$6,274) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Champlain?
14.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Champlain?
24 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Champlain work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Plattsburgh (15%, 19 mi), Plattsburgh (13%, 19 mi), Chazy (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Champlain walkable?
Champlain is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Champlain without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Champlain, from the people who make the trip.
More of Champlain
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.