Photo: DVIDSHUB · CC BY 2.0Fort Drum has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Fort Drum report 758 jobs, and 1,731 of its residents work somewhere. Only 3% stay in Fort Drum for work; outside it, Watertown is the main destination (12%, 8 miles). Working residents average 11 minutes each way; New York averages 33, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Fort Drum: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Fort Drum are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 169 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker, and quicker than any town next door (17 to 20 minutes). Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
71% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
The jobs in Fort Drum pay better than its residents’ jobs
68% of the jobs based in Fort Drum pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 50% of the jobs Fort Drum residents hold. 93% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Fort Drum. The jobs ↓
A young workforce
32% of Fort Drum’s working residents are 29 or younger. 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.
About 11 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fort Drum workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,520 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.
How far it is to work from Fort Drum
About 71% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fort Drum, 2013 → 2023: 804 → 758. 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 Fort Drum’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Fort Drum: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,677 residents head out to work, 54 work right here, and 704 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.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Out of Fort Drum to work: where people go
Where Fort Drum clocks in
5% 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.
Fort Drum and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fort Drum workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Drum | – | — | — | 11 min | $62,291 |
| Champion | under 2% | D | B− | 20 min | $56,875 |
| Calcium | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Great Bend | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Black River | under 2% | C+ | D | 18 min | $86,645 |
Same-state neighbors only. Calcium and Great Bend: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fort Drum’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 Fort Drum: questions
What is the median household income in Fort Drum?
$62,291 (±$7,906) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fort Drum?
11.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fort Drum?
11 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 Fort Drum work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Watertown (12%, 8 mi), Syracuse (5%, 72 mi), New York City (5%, 252 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Fort Drum without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fort Drum, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fort Drum
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.