Photo: Mwanner · CC BY-SA 3.0Elizabethtown has 3.1 jobs for every working resident: 1,279 people commute in to work
Household incomes here are lower than in 78% of U.S. towns. Elizabethtown has 1,396 jobs for 452 working residents. For jobs and income Elizabethtown is better than 8% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (B−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Elizabethtown, in brief
Elizabethtown has far more jobs than workers
Elizabethtown has 1,396 jobs, 3.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,100 people are in town, 80% more than the 1,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Elizabethtown are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 130 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker, and quicker than any town next door (23 to 33 minutes). Time on the road ↓
A lot of Elizabethtown works one town over
27% of working residents work in a town that borders Elizabethtown: Westport (11%), Keene (9%) and Moriah (5%). Next door ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 452 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Elizabethtown’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Elizabethtown’s grade up (16.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 7% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (5.5%) is left out: Elizabethtown’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, Elizabethtown could be anywhere from D− to C.
Elizabethtown by day and by night
On a workday 335 residents head out to work and 117 work right here.
About 2,100 people are in Elizabethtown on a workday afternoon, 80% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Each way, about 16 minutes from Elizabethtown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elizabethtown workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 400 commuters (the 15% 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 trip into Elizabethtown
Where Elizabethtown clocks in
11% of workers
9% 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.
In Elizabethtown, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elizabethtown, 2014 → 2024: 1,321 → 1,396. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Elizabethtown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Elizabethtown
About 25% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Elizabethtown is a driving town
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 472 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). 9.7% of Elizabethtown households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Elizabethtown’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Elizabethtown is 3,679th of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 4 | Saddle Rock NY | 1,008 | $176K | 0.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,677 | Rose Lake Township MI | 1,461 | $62K | 19.1% | 4.4% | 2% | D |
| 3,678 | Villenova NY | 1,047 | $64K | 20.1% | 1.1% | <1% | D |
| 3,679 | Elizabethtown NY | 1,180 | $57K | 16.2% | 5.5% | 26% | D |
| 3,680 | Copeland OK | 1,401 | $58K | 16.1% | 4.5% | 1% | D |
| 3,681 | Los Altos TX | 1,082 | $22K | 91.1% | 12.1% | 0% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Elizabethtown, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 27% of Elizabethtown
The biggest share goes to Westport (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elizabethtown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabethtown | – | D | B− | 16 min | $57,222 |
| Westport | 11% | C− | B | 30 min | $71,146 |
| Lewis | under 2% | B− | D− | 25 min | $82,083 |
| Keene | 9% | B | B+ | 33 min | $93,542 |
| Moriah | 5% | C | C+ | 32 min | $63,113 |
| North Hudson | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Jay | 2% | B− | C− | 28 min | $72,380 |
Same-state neighbors only. North Hudson: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Elizabethtown’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 2024, 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 Elizabethtown: questions
What is the median household income in Elizabethtown?
$57,222 (±$19,725) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elizabethtown?
16.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elizabethtown?
16 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elizabethtown work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Westport (11%, 10 mi), Keene (9%, 12 mi), North Elba (5%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Elizabethtown walkable?
Elizabethtown is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elizabethtown 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 Elizabethtown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elizabethtown
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.