Photo: Amy Lavine · CC BY-SA 4.0Kingston has higher unemployment (5.4%) than 67% of U.S. towns
A typical one-way commute lasts 23 minutes, where New York has 33 and the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Kingston C; getting around on foot earns it A−. About one in four work in Kingston; the top destination outside it is New York City (13%, 88 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Kingston: the figures worth knowing
Kingston’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Kingston is New York City, 88 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (1,394) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Kingston are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 77 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.
Jobs & income in Kingston: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kingston is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #564 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Kingston’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kingston could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The commute from Kingston, by distance
About 29% 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 to work from Kingston takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 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 9,777 commuters (the 15% 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 on a workday afternoon
On a workday 7,647 residents head out to work, 2,847 work right here, and 9,963 people come in from elsewhere.
About 26,000 people are in Kingston on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 per resident).
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 Kingston ends
Where Kingston clocks in
13% of workers
3% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Kingston
12,810 jobs are based in Kingston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kingston, 2013 → 2023: 12,539 → 12,810. 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 Kingston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Kingston is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kingston is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #243 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Kingston near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,545 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 14.0% of Kingston households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Kingston’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Kingston is 1,282nd of 1,577 U.S. towns of 17,000 to 32,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Garden City NY | 23,043 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 92 | New Castle NY | 18,259 | $250K | 2.5% | 4.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 97 | Mineola NY | 21,376 | $138K | 5.3% | 3.2% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,280 | Willowbrook CA | 21,681 | $63K | 18.3% | 11.3% | 2% | C |
| 1,281 | Huntington IN | 17,167 | $57K | 15.0% | 4.6% | 33% | C |
| 1,282 | Kingston NY | 23,942 | $68K | 17.6% | 5.4% | 27% | C |
| 1,283 | Montrose CO | 21,583 | $70K | 11.6% | 5.0% | 52% | C |
| 1,284 | Auburn ME | 25,441 | $67K | 13.8% | 7.0% | 27% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,577 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Kingston, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
11% of Kingston works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Ulster (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kingston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston | – | C | A− | 23 min | $68,186 |
| Ulster | 9% | B− | B− | 21 min | $79,769 |
| Hillside | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Esopus | under 2% | B− | B− | 27 min | $88,837 |
| Port Ewen | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Rhinebeck | 2% | B− | A | 29 min | $93,284 |
| Lincoln Park | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| East Kingston | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Hillside, Port Ewen, Lincoln Park and East Kingston: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. 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 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 Kingston: questions
What is the median household income in Kingston?
$68,186 (±$4,865) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kingston?
17.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kingston?
23 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kingston work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (13%, 88 mi), Ulster (9%, 3 mi), Poughkeepsie (3%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kingston walkable?
Kingston is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kingston without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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), 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.