Photo: RochesterNY · Public domainGeneva has lower unemployment (3.4%) than 63% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Geneva itself; outside it, Rochester draws the most (6%, 38 miles). Jobs and income earn Geneva B−; getting around on foot earns it A. Commuters spend 17 minutes getting to work 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
What sets Geneva apart on work
Income, poverty and work: Geneva’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Geneva is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #431 of 758 in New York. Unemployment holds Geneva’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (16.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Geneva could be anywhere from C to B+.
About 17 minutes to work from Geneva
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Geneva workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,476 commuters (the 9% 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.
Geneva on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,513 residents head out to work, 1,449 work right here, and 5,515 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15,000 people are in Geneva on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.40 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.
Where people from Geneva work
Where Geneva clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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.
Jobs in Geneva: what the 6,964 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Geneva, 2013 → 2023: 7,289 → 6,964. 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 Geneva’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Geneva goes to work
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.
Geneva 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, Geneva is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #216 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 7.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,016 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). 11.4% of Geneva households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Geneva’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,515th of 2,354: where Geneva ranks among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,513 | Greensburg IN | 12,315 | $63K | 13.8% | 2.3% | 33% | B− |
| 1,514 | Covington LA | 11,721 | $76K | 11.7% | 5.6% | 22% | B− |
| 1,515 | Geneva NY | 12,552 | $79K | 16.0% | 3.4% | 29% | B− |
| 1,516 | Bostonia CA | 16,765 | $79K | 13.6% | 7.9% | 2% | B− |
| 1,517 | Waupun WI | 11,150 | $66K | 16.6% | 2.4% | 17% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Geneva, 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 Geneva: questions
What is the median household income in Geneva?
$79,435 (±$11,405) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Geneva?
16.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Geneva?
17 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Geneva work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rochester (6%, 38 mi), Geneva (5%, 2 mi), Waterloo (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Geneva walkable?
Geneva is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Geneva without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Geneva, from the people who make the trip.
More of Geneva
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.