Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY 4.0Hamburg has higher household incomes than 85% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 3.0%, next to 14.0% for New York as a whole. Hamburg grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 12.2 in Buffalo.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Hamburg
Commutes from Hamburg are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Hamburg
68% of Hamburg residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 43% of the jobs based in Hamburg pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
33% of the jobs based in Hamburg are held by workers 29 or younger, against 21% of Hamburg’s own working residents. 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.
Jobs & income in Hamburg: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hamburg is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #38 of 758 in New York. The poverty rate is its strongest input; unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hamburg could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Hamburg
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hamburg workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,480 commuters (the 14% 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.
Jobs in Hamburg: what the 3,008 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hamburg, 2013 → 2023: 2,683 → 3,008. 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 Hamburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Hamburg, and who commutes in
On a workday 4,489 residents head out to work, 351 work right here, and 2,657 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,000 people are in Hamburg on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.62 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.
23% of working residents work in Buffalo
Where Hamburg clocks in
23% of workers
20% of workers
9% 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.
How far Hamburg 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Hamburg
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hamburg is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #172 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.9% 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 5,180 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% 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). 3.4% of Hamburg households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Hamburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
220th of 2,761: where Hamburg ranks among U.S. towns of 6,900 to 13,300
| # | 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Hastings-on-Hudson NY | 8,440 | $194K | 2.3% | 4.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 218 | Middleton MA | 9,895 | $167K | 3.4% | 3.8% | 9% | A |
| 219 | Cascades VA | 12,357 | $167K | 2.9% | 3.8% | 3% | A |
| 220 | Hamburg NY | 9,840 | $112K | 3.0% | 2.6% | 7% | A |
| 221 | Lavon TX | 11,888 | $131K | 1.6% | 3.6% | 1% | A |
| 222 | Amherst NH | 11,985 | $153K | 4.4% | 1.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,761 | 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 Hamburg, 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 Hamburg: questions
What is the median household income in Hamburg?
$112,292 (±$24,189) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hamburg?
3.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hamburg?
22 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hamburg work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Buffalo (23%, 12 mi), Hamburg (20%, 2 mi), Amherst (9%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hamburg walkable?
Hamburg is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hamburg without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hamburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hamburg
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.