Households in Cuba earn less than those in 71% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 14.1%, where New York as a whole has 14.0%. For jobs and income Cuba is better than 20% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (A). About one in ten work in Cuba; the top destination outside it is Cuba (22%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Cuba
Cuba and Cuba trade workers both ways
Cuba is the top workplace for Cuba residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Cuba come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Cuba are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Cuba
54% of Cuba residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 36% of the jobs based in Cuba pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 88% 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; with 606 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Cuba
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Cuba’s grade.
Unemployment (3.3%) is left out: Cuba’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Cuba could be anywhere from D to C+.
Where Cuba goes to work
Where Cuba clocks in
13% 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 Cuba: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cuba workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 694 commuters (the 11% 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 the 811 jobs in Cuba are
811 jobs are based in Cuba.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cuba, 2013 → 2023: 827 → 811. 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 Cuba’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Cuba, and who commutes in
On a workday 535 residents head out to work, 71 work right here, and 740 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Cuba on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.34 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.
Miles to work from Cuba
About 22% 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.
In Cuba, walking beats the bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 8.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 782 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). 8.9% of Cuba households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cuba’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 6,308 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000, Cuba comes 4,381st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 4 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 5 | Saddle Rock NY | 1,008 | $176K | 0.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,379 | Willsboro NY | 1,831 | $70K | 12.1% | 2.0% | 24% | C− |
| 4,380 | Bridgewater Township OH | 1,404 | $77K | 23.3% | 4.7% | 1% | C− |
| 4,381 | Cuba NY | 1,490 | $62K | 14.1% | 3.3% | 12% | C− |
| 4,382 | Winnebago Township NE | 1,999 | $66K | 16.5% | 11.5% | 52% | C− |
| 4,383 | Hadley NY | 1,960 | $74K | 11.5% | 9.0% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Cuba, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
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 Cuba: questions
What is the median household income in Cuba?
$61,776 (±$16,630) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cuba?
14.1%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cuba?
19 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cuba work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cuba (22%, 2 mi), Olean (13%, 12 mi), Friendship (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cuba walkable?
Cuba is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cuba without a car?
0% 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 Cuba, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cuba
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.