Tripp House and Store Complex · Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Durham (3.5%) is lower than in 61% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Durham for work; outside it, New York City is the main destination (9%, 119 miles). For jobs and income Durham is better than 56% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (B−). The trip to work takes 33 minutes on average, where New York has 33 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Durham, in a few figures
Durham makes and builds things
63% of the jobs based in Durham are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Durham residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 14%. The jobs ↓
Durham’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Durham is New York City, 119 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (100) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Durham has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Durham went from 485 in 2013 to 655 in 2023, +35%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Durham’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Durham’s grade up (4.1%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Durham could be anywhere from C to A−.
Goods, not services: 63% of the jobs in Durham
655 jobs are based in Durham.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Durham, 2013 → 2023: 485 → 655. 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 Durham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Durham
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.
How many people are in Durham by day
On a workday 957 residents head out to work, 148 work right here, and 507 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Durham on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.59 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.
Where people from Durham work
Where Durham clocks in
9% 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.
Durham’s commute takes about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Durham workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,154 commuters (the 13% 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.
Most trips from Durham start in a car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 5.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,326 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). 5.1% of Durham households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Durham’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Durham is 1,964th of 5,083 U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 10 | Laurel Hollow NY | 1,949 | $250K | 3.5% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,962 | Climax Township MI | 2,381 | $76K | 8.5% | 11.7% | 5% | B |
| 1,963 | Fabius Township MI | 3,325 | $96K | 8.8% | 5.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,964 | Durham NY | 2,603 | $81K | 4.1% | 3.5% | 13% | B |
| 1,965 | Clermont NY | 2,022 | $95K | 8.0% | 4.2% | 7% | B |
| 1,966 | West Rutland VT | 2,200 | $61K | 6.8% | 1.3% | 7% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | 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 Durham, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Bordering towns draw 14% of Durham’s workers
The biggest share goes to Cairo (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Durham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | – | B | B− | 33 min | $81,471 |
| Windham | 4% | C+ | B+ | 27 min | $76,477 |
| Greenville | 3% | B+ | B | 32 min | $81,406 |
| Cairo | 7% | B | D | 29 min | $79,643 |
| Rensselaerville | under 3% | B | D− | 38 min | $90,324 |
| Conesville | under 3% | — | — | 42 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Conesville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Durham’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 Durham: questions
What is the median household income in Durham?
$81,471 (±$15,174) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Durham?
4.1%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Durham?
33 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Durham work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (9%, 119 mi), Catskill (8%, 16 mi), Cairo (7%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Durham walkable?
Durham is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Durham without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Durham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Durham
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.