Photo: kenneth c zirkel · CC BY-SA 3.0Kirkland has lower unemployment (2.5%) than 77% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.6 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 79.0 in New York City. Jobs and income earn Kirkland B+; getting around on foot earns it A. About one in five work in Kirkland; the top destination outside it is Utica (15%, 9 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 Kirkland
Commutes from Kirkland are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 115 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Kirkland has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Kirkland went from 2,155 in 2013 to 4,071 in 2023, +89%. The jobs ↓
Kirkland trades workers with the towns around it
Kirkland has about as many jobs (4,071) as working residents (4,111), but they are mostly different people: 3,301 residents leave for work each day while 3,261 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in Kirkland are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Many jobs in Kirkland pay little
34% of the jobs based in Kirkland pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 37% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Kirkland
65% of Kirkland residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 46% of the jobs based in Kirkland pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 80% leave town for their job. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Kirkland’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kirkland is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #214 of 758 in New York. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kirkland could be anywhere from B to A.
About 18 minutes to work from Kirkland
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kirkland workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,131 commuters (the 13% 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.
In Kirkland, services account for most jobs
4,071 jobs are based in Kirkland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kirkland, 2013 → 2023: 2,155 → 4,071. 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 Kirkland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Kirkland
On a workday 3,301 residents head out to work, 810 work right here, and 3,261 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.99 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 Kirkland goes to work
Where Kirkland clocks in
15% of workers
12% of workers
4% 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 far Kirkland goes to work
About 21% 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.
Kirkland is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kirkland is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #184 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 12.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 8.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,730 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 57% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 64% 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). 6.3% of Kirkland households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Kirkland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Kirkland is 970th among 2,734 U.S. towns of 6,900 to 13,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Hastings-on-Hudson NY | 8,440 | $194K | 2.3% | 4.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 968 | Lakeland South WA | 13,100 | $111K | 6.2% | 6.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 969 | Needham Township IN | 7,952 | $92K | 12.3% | 2.2% | 4% | B+ |
| 970 | Kirkland NY | 9,804 | $83K | 6.7% | 2.5% | 20% | B+ |
| 971 | Big Flats NY | 7,406 | $87K | 5.1% | 2.8% | 11% | B+ |
| 972 | Lake Monticello VA | 10,662 | $107K | 6.7% | 3.0% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,734 | 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 Kirkland, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Work next door: 16% of Kirkland’s workers
The biggest share goes to New Hartford (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kirkland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkland | – | B+ | A | 18 min | $82,926 |
| Westmoreland | under 2% | A | C | 27 min | $105,333 |
| New Hartford | 12% | B+ | B | 18 min | $81,173 |
| Marshall | under 2% | A− | C+ | 21 min | $101,250 |
| Paris | under 2% | A− | D | 21 min | $93,491 |
| Augusta | under 2% | C− | C | 27 min | $57,852 |
| Vernon | under 2% | B | C | 22 min | $77,601 |
| Whitestown | 4% | B+ | B | 17 min | $80,168 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kirkland’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 Kirkland: questions
What is the median household income in Kirkland?
$82,926 (±$7,850) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kirkland?
6.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kirkland?
18 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kirkland work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Utica (15%, 9 mi), New Hartford (12%, 5 mi), Rome (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kirkland walkable?
Kirkland is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kirkland without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kirkland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kirkland
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.