Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Germantown has higher household incomes than 75% of U.S. towns
For 26% of workers, the job is at home, next to 15% for New York as a whole. 6.8% of residents are in poverty (New York 14.0%). The two grades for Germantown are B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Germantown
Germantown’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Germantown is New York City, 102 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (79) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Germantown makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Germantown are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Germantown residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 16%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Germantown are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 837 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Germantown
On income, poverty and job access, Germantown is better than 64% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Germantown’s grade up ($97,564, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (4.6%) is left out: Germantown’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, Germantown could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The distance from Germantown to work
About 22% 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.
Goods, not services: 49% of the jobs in Germantown
596 jobs are based in Germantown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Germantown, 2013 → 2023: 664 → 596. 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 Germantown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Germantown spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Germantown workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 563 commuters (the 26% 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 Germantown for work, and who comes in
On a workday 728 residents head out to work, 109 work right here, and 487 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Germantown on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.71 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.
9% of working residents work in New York City
Where Germantown clocks in
9% of workers
6% 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.
Few in Germantown walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Germantown is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 6.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 757 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). 3.0% of Germantown households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Germantown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600, Germantown ranks 1,559th of 5,921 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 4 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,557 | Midland Township MI | 2,201 | $92K | 4.4% | 5.8% | 2% | B |
| 1,558 | Homer Township MN | 1,310 | $94K | 5.3% | 0.8% | <1% | B |
| 1,559 | Germantown NY | 1,890 | $98K | 6.8% | 4.6% | 13% | B |
| 1,560 | Medary Township SD | 1,579 | $108K | 6.7% | 2.2% | 1% | B |
| 1,561 | Dellona WI | 1,912 | $103K | 8.9% | 2.9% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Germantown, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Germantown and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Livingston (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Germantown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germantown | – | B | B+ | 24 min | $97,564 |
| Livingston | 3% | C− | B | 20 min | $54,024 |
| Clermont | under 3% | B | B− | 24 min | $95,104 |
| Catskill | under 3% | C | B+ | 28 min | $69,321 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Germantown’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 Germantown: questions
What is the median household income in Germantown?
$97,564 (±$12,211) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Germantown?
6.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Germantown?
24 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Germantown work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (9%, 102 mi), Hudson (6%, 9 mi), Red Hook (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Germantown walkable?
Germantown is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Germantown without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Germantown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Germantown
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.