Photo: Tyler A. McNeil · CC BY-SA 4.0Guilderland’s household incomes are higher than in 85% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 21.9 in Albany. Poverty touches 5.9% of residents (New York 14.0%). Jobs and income earn Guilderland A; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Guilderland
Much of Guilderland works one town over
50% of working residents work in a town that borders Guilderland: Albany (31%), Colonie (15%) and Rotterdam (2%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Guilderland are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Guilderland residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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.
What’s behind Guilderland’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Guilderland is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #103 of 758 in New York. Household income is its strongest input ($112,273, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Guilderland could be anywhere from A− to A.
From Guilderland, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Guilderland workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,762 commuters (the 16% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Guilderland
About 16% 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.
Who leaves Guilderland for work, and who comes in
On a workday 15,152 residents head out to work, 1,781 work right here, and 11,253 people come in from elsewhere.
About 34,000 people are in Guilderland on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 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.
31% of working residents work in Albany
Where Guilderland clocks in
31% of workers
15% 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.
What work there is in Guilderland: 13,034 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Guilderland, 2013 → 2023: 12,345 → 13,034. 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 Guilderland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Guilderland
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Guilderland is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #286 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 32.9% across New York.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 18,849 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 50% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.1% of Guilderland households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Guilderland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Guilderland is 256th of 1,113 U.S. towns of 27,000 to 52,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Eastchester NY | 34,015 | $156K | 4.8% | 2.6% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Clifton Park NY | 37,775 | $133K | 2.3% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Valley Stream NY | 40,379 | $133K | 5.5% | 2.8% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 254 | Camas WA | 27,749 | $141K | 5.0% | 4.0% | 13% | A |
| 255 | Newington CT | 31,647 | $103K | 6.4% | 3.6% | 11% | A |
| 256 | Guilderland NY | 38,216 | $112K | 5.9% | 3.2% | 11% | A |
| 257 | North Kingstown RI | 27,885 | $126K | 6.1% | 3.4% | 19% | A |
| 258 | Carol Stream IL | 39,315 | $102K | 6.4% | 3.9% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,113 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Guilderland, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Work next door: 50% of Guilderland’s workers
The biggest share goes to Albany (31%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Guilderland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guilderland | – | A | A− | 21 min | $112,273 |
| Knox | under 2% | B | D− | 33 min | $124,083 |
| Albany | 31% | C | A+ | 20 min | $61,986 |
| Colonie | 15% | A− | A− | 20 min | $101,676 |
| New Scotland | under 2% | A− | C− | 24 min | $122,659 |
| Rotterdam | 2% | A− | B+ | 23 min | $86,331 |
| Bethlehem | 2% | A | B | 22 min | $123,893 |
| Princetown | under 2% | A | D− | 33 min | $98,438 |
| Colonie | under 2% | A | A− | 17 min | $103,983 |
| Roessleville | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Roessleville: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Guilderland’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 Guilderland: questions
What is the median household income in Guilderland?
$112,273 (±$7,481) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Guilderland?
5.9%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Guilderland?
21 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Guilderland work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albany (31%, 9 mi), Colonie (15%, 9 mi), Schenectady (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Guilderland walkable?
Guilderland is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Guilderland without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Guilderland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Guilderland
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.