Most of Ilion commutes out: there are 0.6 jobs for every working resident
There are 1,782 jobs in Ilion, and 3,133 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Ilion are B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in seven work in Ilion; the top destination outside it is German Flatts (15%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Ilion apart on work
Commutes from Ilion are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Ilion and German Flatts trade workers both ways
German Flatts is the top workplace for Ilion residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Ilion come from (32% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Ilion than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Ilion fell from 2,507 in 2013 to 1,782 in 2023, −29%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
Where Ilion’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ilion is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #421 of 758 in New York. Unemployment holds Ilion’s grade up (2.2%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (14.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ilion could be anywhere from C to B+.
About 20 minutes to work from Ilion
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ilion workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,080 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 Ilion’s working residents head each day
Where Ilion clocks in
15% of workers
14% of workers
10% 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 Ilion’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ilion, 2013 → 2023: 2,507 → 1,782. 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 Ilion’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Ilion for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,730 residents head out to work, 403 work right here, and 1,379 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,100 people are in Ilion on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where in the region Ilion works
About 26% 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.
Getting around Ilion: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ilion is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #368 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,341 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). 13.0% of Ilion households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Ilion’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ilion places 1,806th of 3,125 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,200 to 10,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 16 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,804 | Evergreen MT | 9,611 | $76K | 12.1% | 3.4% | 15% | B− |
| 1,805 | Clover Creek WA | 7,345 | $95K | 12.6% | 9.5% | 2% | B− |
| 1,806 | Ilion NY | 7,488 | $63K | 14.5% | 2.2% | 13% | B− |
| 1,807 | Long View NC | 5,387 | $47K | 11.3% | 2.5% | 3% | B− |
| 1,808 | Carneys Point Township NJ | 8,766 | $79K | 11.9% | 7.3% | 9% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,125 | 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 Ilion, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Work next door: 29% of Ilion’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ilion workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ilion | – | B− | B+ | 20 min | $62,843 |
| German Flatts | 15% | B− | B | 21 min | $67,791 |
| Herkimer | 10% | C− | A− | 22 min | $56,287 |
| Mohawk | under 2% | B | A− | 23 min | $72,813 |
| Frankfort | 4% | B | C+ | 28 min | $62,861 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to German Flatts. Darker towns draw more of Ilion’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 Ilion: questions
What is the median household income in Ilion?
$62,843 (±$16,188) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ilion?
14.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ilion?
20 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 Ilion work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are German Flatts (15%, 4 mi), Utica (14%, 11 mi), Herkimer (10%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ilion walkable?
Ilion is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ilion without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ilion, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ilion
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.