Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Herkimer are lower than in 79% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 21.7%, where New York as a whole has 14.0%. For jobs and income Herkimer is better than 23% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (A−). About one in five stay in Herkimer for work; outside it, Utica is the main destination (12%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Herkimer in brief
Herkimer trades workers with the towns around it
Herkimer has about as many jobs (4,411) as working residents (3,727), but they are mostly different people: 2,962 residents leave for work each day while 3,646 people come in. Only 17% of the jobs in Herkimer are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Herkimer 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 ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Herkimer
Job access by car holds Herkimer’s grade up (ahead of 52% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Herkimer could be anywhere from D to B−.
Herkimer on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,962 residents head out to work, 765 work right here, and 3,646 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 (1.18 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.
From Herkimer, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Herkimer workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,938 commuters (the 8% 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.
Where Herkimer goes to work
Where Herkimer clocks in
12% of workers
6% 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.
The kinds of work in Herkimer
4,411 jobs are based in Herkimer.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Herkimer, 2013 → 2023: 4,755 → 4,411. 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 Herkimer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Herkimer, by distance
About 29% 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.
Herkimer is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,301 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). 17.0% of Herkimer households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Herkimer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Herkimer places 2,333rd of 2,806 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 6,600 to 12,700
| # | 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+ |
| 4 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,331 | Inwood FL | 7,556 | $56K | 20.3% | 6.5% | 2% | C− |
| 2,332 | Devils Lake ND | 7,333 | $43K | 21.8% | 1.7% | 53% | C− |
| 2,333 | Herkimer NY | 9,432 | $56K | 21.7% | 4.9% | 21% | C− |
| 2,334 | St. Martin MS | 8,139 | $55K | 17.2% | 6.7% | 3% | C− |
| 2,335 | Kenai AK | 7,924 | $87K | 13.2% | 7.4% | — | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,806 | 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 Herkimer, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
10% of Herkimer works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to German Flatts (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Herkimer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herkimer | – | C− | A− | 22 min | $56,287 |
| German Flatts | 6% | B− | B | 21 min | $67,791 |
| Fairfield | under 3% | C+ | B− | 25 min | $89,875 |
| Little Falls | under 3% | C+ | B | 26 min | $71,875 |
| Ilion | under 3% | B− | B+ | 20 min | $62,843 |
| Frankfort | 4% | B | C+ | 28 min | $62,861 |
| Schuyler | under 3% | C+ | D | 21 min | $65,469 |
| Mohawk | under 3% | B | A− | 23 min | $72,813 |
| Newport | under 3% | C | C | 31 min | $79,727 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Herkimer’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 Herkimer: questions
What is the median household income in Herkimer?
$56,287 (±$14,357) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Herkimer?
21.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Herkimer?
22 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Herkimer work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Utica (12%, 12 mi), German Flatts (6%, 6 mi), New Hartford (5%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Herkimer walkable?
Herkimer is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Herkimer without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 17% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Herkimer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Herkimer
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.