Parker 13-Sided Barn · Photo: Jan3d · CC BY-SA 3.0Jefferson has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
For jobs and income Jefferson is better than 18% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (C). Employers in Jefferson report 161 jobs, against 538 working residents. Home is the office for 24% of workers, where New York as a whole has 15%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Jefferson
Jefferson is a place people come home to
There are 161 jobs based in Jefferson, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Jefferson has about 960 people in it, 28% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Jefferson works from home
24% of Jefferson workers work from home, against 15% across New York. 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; with 538 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Jefferson: the grade in detail
The poverty rate holds Jefferson’s grade up (11.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (8.5%) is left out: Jefferson’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Jefferson could be anywhere from D to C+.
Jefferson by day and by night
On a workday 505 residents head out to work, 33 work right here, and 128 people come in from elsewhere.
About 960 people are in Jefferson on a workday afternoon, 28% 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.
From Jefferson, about 32 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jefferson workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 378 commuters (the 24% 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.
7% of working residents work in Stamford
Where Jefferson clocks in
6% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jefferson, 2013 → 2023: 189 → 161. 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 Jefferson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Jefferson goes to work
About 27% 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.
For most of Jefferson, work means a drive
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 4.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 495 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). 1.7% of Jefferson households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jefferson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Jefferson is 3,806th of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 4 | Saddle Rock NY | 1,008 | $176K | 0.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,804 | Salt Creek Township IN | 1,003 | $62K | 10.9% | 3.4% | <1% | C− |
| 3,805 | Troupsburg NY | 1,014 | $72K | 12.5% | 2.8% | 5% | C− |
| 3,806 | Jefferson NY | 1,336 | $67K | 11.5% | 8.5% | 6% | C− |
| 3,807 | Jackson Township OH | 1,053 | $73K | 17.9% | 0.0% | 2% | C− |
| 3,808 | Monroe Township PA | 1,652 | $59K | 16.3% | 8.5% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Jefferson, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Jefferson and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Harpersfield (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jefferson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson | – | C− | C | 32 min | $67,083 |
| Summit | under 3% | B− | C+ | 34 min | $74,375 |
| Blenheim | under 3% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Harpersfield | 3% | D− | B− | 31 min | $52,118 |
Same-state neighbors only. Blenheim: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jefferson’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 Jefferson: questions
What is the median household income in Jefferson?
$67,083 (±$8,861) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jefferson?
11.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jefferson?
32 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jefferson work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stamford (7%, 11 mi), New York City (6%, 131 mi), Cobleskill (5%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jefferson walkable?
Jefferson is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jefferson 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 Jefferson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jefferson
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.