Households in Cold Spring have higher incomes than those in 87% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 4.5% of residents, against 14.0% across New York. Jobs and income earn Cold Spring B+; getting around on foot earns it A+. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.0 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
Jobs and commuting in Cold Spring: the gist
Cold Spring’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Cold Spring is New York City, 52 miles away as the crow flies. 26% of working residents (200) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Cold Spring workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 51 minutes each way, against 33 across New York. Over a year that’s about 391 hours of commuting, 138 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 773 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Cold Spring’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cold Spring is better than 75% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Cold Spring’s grade up ($117,292, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cold Spring could be anywhere from B to A+.
Short hops and long hauls from Cold Spring
About 16% 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 to work from Cold Spring takes about 51 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 16.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cold Spring workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 772 commuters (the 20% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Cold Spring
On a workday 678 residents head out to work, 95 work right here, and 749 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 (1.09 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.
26% of working residents work in New York City
Where Cold Spring clocks in
26% of workers
16% of workers
3% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Cold Spring
844 jobs are based in Cold Spring.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cold Spring, 2013 → 2023: 686 → 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 Cold Spring’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Cold Spring
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cold Spring is among the most walkable U.S. towns. Both inputs place Cold Spring 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 969 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, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 75% 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). 8.8% of Cold Spring households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 33% of Cold Spring’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cold Spring places 951st of 5,509 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| 9 | Village of the Branch NY | 1,764 | $174K | 1.5% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 949 | The Galena Territory IL | 1,735 | $118K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 13% | B+ |
| 950 | Chesilhurst NJ | 1,564 | $92K | 10.4% | 7.9% | 1% | B+ |
| 951 | Cold Spring NY | 1,998 | $117K | 4.5% | 6.0% | 12% | B+ |
| 952 | Palmer TX | 2,644 | $104K | 4.5% | 7.2% | 4% | B+ |
| 953 | Duluth Township MN | 2,121 | $116K | 8.1% | 2.2% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | 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 Cold Spring, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Cold Spring and the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cold Spring workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold Spring | – | B+ | A+ | 51 min | $117,292 |
| Nelsonville | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Nelsonville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cold Spring’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 Cold Spring: questions
What is the median household income in Cold Spring?
$117,292 (±$22,747) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cold Spring?
4.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cold Spring?
51 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cold Spring work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (26%, 52 mi), Philipstown (16%, 2 mi), White Plains (3%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cold Spring walkable?
Cold Spring is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 16.0 out of 20, and 41% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cold Spring without a car?
33% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cold Spring, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cold Spring
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.