Photo: Mwanner · CC BY-SA 3.0At 3.0%, unemployment in Jay is lower than in 70% of U.S. towns
For 9% of workers, the job is at home (New York 15%). The two grades for Jay are B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. About one in ten work in Jay; the top destination outside it is North Elba (17%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Jay
Jay makes and builds things
80% of the jobs based in Jay are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Jay residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 17%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Jay pay better than its residents’ jobs
81% of the jobs based in Jay pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 59% of the jobs Jay residents hold. 82% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Jay. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Jay are quick
The average trip to work takes 28 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 38 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.
The figures behind Jay’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jay is better than 46% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Jay’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jay could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Making and building: 80% of jobs based in Jay
625 jobs are based in Jay.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jay, 2013 → 2023: 218 → 625. 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 Jay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Jay: about 28 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jay workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,011 commuters (the 9% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Jay
On a workday 886 residents head out to work, 115 work right here, and 510 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Jay on a workday afternoon, 15% 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.
Where the trip to work from Jay ends
Where Jay clocks in
17% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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 many miles Jay commutes
About 24% 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.
The commute in Jay is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jay is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 3.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,108 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). 2.3% of Jay households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jay’s commuters take a bus or train.
Jay next to U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300: 2,504th of 5,207 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| 7 | Village of the Branch NY | 1,764 | $174K | 1.5% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 8 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,502 | Woodworth OH | 1,824 | $60K | 11.8% | 0.0% | 5% | B− |
| 2,503 | Trowbridge Township MI | 2,561 | $76K | 10.7% | 4.1% | 2% | B− |
| 2,504 | Jay NY | 2,472 | $72K | 6.7% | 3.0% | 11% | B− |
| 2,505 | Briar Creek Township PA | 3,044 | $77K | 6.0% | 6.3% | 1% | B− |
| 2,506 | Ashley PA | 2,627 | $57K | 23.9% | 1.8% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Jay, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 19% of Jay
The biggest share goes to Au Sable (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jay workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jay | – | B− | C− | 28 min | $72,380 |
| Black Brook | under 2% | C | D | 32 min | $67,852 |
| Au Sable Forks | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Wilmington | 2% | B− | B− | 34 min | $82,344 |
| Chesterfield | under 2% | D | C− | 21 min | $65,278 |
| Lewis | under 2% | B− | D− | 25 min | $82,083 |
| Au Sable | 8% | C | C− | 26 min | $95,069 |
| Keene | 3% | B | B+ | 33 min | $93,542 |
| Elizabethtown | 6% | D | B− | 16 min | $57,222 |
Same-state neighbors only. Au Sable Forks: 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 Jay’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 Jay: questions
What is the median household income in Jay?
$72,380 (±$18,595) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jay?
6.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jay?
28 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jay work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are North Elba (17%, 21 mi), Au Sable (8%, 12 mi), Plattsburgh (7%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jay walkable?
Jay is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jay without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jay
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.