Photo: Amy Lavine · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs, income and commuting in Kingston, NY
27% of workers have no commute at all (New York 15%). Hardly any work in Kingston; the top destination outside it is Kingston (24%, 4 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 22 minutes (New York 33, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Kingston, in a few figures
Kingston and Kingston trade workers both ways
Kingston is the top workplace for Kingston residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Kingston come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Kingston 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 ↓
Kingston makes and builds things
42% of the jobs based in Kingston are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Kingston residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 10%. The jobs ↓
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 402 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of Kingston: the destinations
Where Kingston clocks in
24% of workers
12% 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.
Commuting from Kingston: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kingston workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 354 commuters (the 27% 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.
Kingston makes things: 42% of its jobs are in goods
315 jobs are based in Kingston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kingston, 2014 → 2024: 303 → 315. 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 Kingston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Kingston
On a workday 399 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 312 people come in from elsewhere.
About 820 people are in Kingston on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The commute from Kingston, by distance
About 25% 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.
Work next door: 14% of Kingston’s workers
The biggest share goes to Ulster (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kingston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | – | — | — | 22 min | $73,125 |
| Ulster | 11% | B− | B− | 21 min | $79,769 |
| Ruby | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Woodstock | 3% | C+ | B+ | 27 min | $92,118 |
Same-state neighbors only. Ruby: 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 Kingston’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 Kingston: questions
What is the median household income in Kingston?
$73,125 (±$34,613) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kingston?
1.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kingston?
22 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kingston work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kingston (24%, 4 mi), New York City (12%, 91 mi), Ulster (11%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Kingston without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kingston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kingston
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.