West Charlton United Presbyterian Church · Photo: Peter Flass · CC BY 3.0At 0.7%, unemployment in Charlton is lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Charlton are A for jobs and income and D for walkability. Measured by household income, Charlton is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Only 4% stay in Charlton for work; outside it, Schenectady is the main destination (10%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Charlton
A longer commute than the towns next door
Charlton averages 31 minutes each way, more than any bordering town (24 to 27 minutes). Next door ↓
Charlton is a place people come home to
There are 453 jobs based in Charlton, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Charlton has about 2,900 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Charlton
71% of Charlton residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 53% of the jobs based in Charlton pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. 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.
Why Charlton gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Charlton is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #74 of 758 in New York. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 59% of 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, Charlton could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Charlton by day and by night
On a workday 1,849 residents head out to work, 81 work right here, and 372 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Charlton on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.23 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Charlton works in goods: 33% of its jobs
453 jobs are based in Charlton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Charlton, 2013 → 2023: 387 → 453. 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 Charlton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Charlton goes to work
Where Charlton clocks in
10% of workers
10% of workers
10% 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.
Commuting from Charlton: about 31 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Charlton workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,456 commuters (the 17% 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.
How far Charlton goes to work
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.
For most of Charlton, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Charlton is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns, #735 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Charlton near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,759 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 1.8% of Charlton households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Charlton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Charlton next to U.S. towns of 3,100 to 5,900: 359th of 3,908 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | North Hills NY | 5,481 | $173K | 3.0% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 357 | St. James MD | 4,824 | $97K | 4.1% | 1.4% | 2% | A |
| 358 | Middletown MD | 5,056 | $173K | 1.1% | 4.0% | 5% | A |
| 359 | Charlton NY | 4,362 | $107K | 5.0% | 0.7% | 4% | A |
| 360 | San Miguel CA | 3,967 | $250K | 1.8% | 5.7% | 1% | A |
| 361 | Shorewood Forest IN | 3,263 | $166K | 8.6% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,908 | 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 Charlton, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Charlton and its neighbors: 14% work next door
The biggest share goes to Ballston (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Charlton’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 Charlton: questions
What is the median household income in Charlton?
$106,801 (±$22,091) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Charlton?
5.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Charlton?
31 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Charlton work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Schenectady (10%, 11 mi), Colonie (10%, 18 mi), Albany (10%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Charlton walkable?
Charlton is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Charlton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Charlton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Charlton
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.