A job hub: Houghton has 1.7 jobs per working resident, and 653 people come in to work
There are 726 jobs in Houghton for 416 working residents. About one in five stay in Houghton for work; outside it, Caneadea is the main destination (18%, 3 miles). The average commute takes 15 minutes each way, next to 33 for New York and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Houghton, in a few figures
Many jobs in Houghton pay little
52% of the jobs based in Houghton pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 49% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Houghton are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 138 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Houghton is where the jobs are
Houghton has 726 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 416 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Houghton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Houghton, 2014 → 2024: 227 → 726. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Houghton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 15 minutes in Houghton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Houghton workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 593 commuters (the 18% 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.
A workday in Houghton: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 343 residents head out to work and 73 work right here.
About 2,000 people are in Houghton on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where the people who work in Houghton live
Where Houghton clocks in
Lines 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.
Half of Houghton commutes less than 24 miles
About 30% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The towns around Houghton
The biggest share goes to Hume (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Houghton’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 2024, 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 Houghton: questions
What is the median household income in Houghton?
$83,571 (±$13,127) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Houghton?
20.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Houghton?
15 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Houghton work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Caneadea (18%, 3 mi), Arcade (5%, 14 mi), Hume (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Houghton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Houghton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Houghton
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.