Photo: Pubdog at en.wikipedia · Public domainHouseholds in Fredonia have lower incomes than those in 87% of U.S. towns
Fredonia grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 25.2% of residents are in poverty; New York has 14.0%. Commuters spend 17 minutes getting to work on average; 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 Fredonia: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Fredonia are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 123 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Fredonia trades workers with the towns around it
Fredonia has about as many jobs (2,859) as working residents (2,866), but they are mostly different people: 2,359 residents leave for work each day while 2,352 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Fredonia are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fredonia and Pomfret trade workers both ways
Pomfret is the top workplace for Fredonia residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Fredonia come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
The four measures behind Fredonia’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fredonia is better than 13% of U.S. towns, #707 of 758 in New York. Unemployment holds Fredonia’s grade up (5.1%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fredonia could be anywhere from D to C.
About 17 minutes each way for Fredonia’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fredonia workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,761 commuters (the 12% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 2,359 residents head out to work, 507 work right here, and 2,352 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 (1.00 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.
21% of working residents work in Pomfret
Where Fredonia clocks in
13% of workers
6% 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.
What Fredonia’s employers do
2,859 jobs are based in Fredonia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fredonia, 2013 → 2023: 3,768 → 2,859. 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 Fredonia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Fredonia commutes less than 16 miles
About 18% 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.
Fredonia is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fredonia is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #264 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 7.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,252 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). 8.6% of Fredonia households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Fredonia’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 6,500 to 12,500, and where Fredonia sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,594 | Hartsville SC | 7,374 | $49K | 19.6% | 7.2% | 27% | D |
| 2,595 | Washington Township IN | 10,430 | $59K | 19.4% | 6.0% | 28% | D |
| 2,596 | Fredonia NY | 9,283 | $50K | 25.2% | 5.1% | 18% | D |
| 2,597 | Inverness FL | 7,796 | $44K | 15.0% | 5.9% | 19% | D |
| 2,598 | North Vernon IN | 6,559 | $51K | 16.7% | 7.1% | 22% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,841 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Fredonia, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
21% of Fredonia works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Pomfret. Darker towns draw more of Fredonia’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 Fredonia: questions
What is the median household income in Fredonia?
$50,433 (±$9,217) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fredonia?
25.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fredonia?
17 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fredonia work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pomfret (21%, 2 mi), Dunkirk (13%, 3 mi), Dunkirk (6%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fredonia walkable?
Fredonia is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fredonia without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fredonia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fredonia
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.