With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Lakeland works elsewhere
Hardly any work in Lakeland itself; outside it, Syracuse draws the most (31%, 6 miles). Employers in Lakeland report 225 jobs, and 1,249 of its residents work somewhere. At home: 8% of workers have no commute at all (New York 15%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lakeland and work: the main findings
Most Lakeland residents work close to home
72% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Commutes from Lakeland 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 ↓
Lakeland is a place people come home to
There are 225 jobs based in Lakeland, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lakeland has about 1,300 people in it, 44% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
31% of Lakeland works in Syracuse
381 working residents, 31%, have their main job in Syracuse, 6.1 miles away. That’s 31 times as many as work in Lakeland itself. The commute map ↓
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.
Lakeland’s commute, mile by mile
About 15% 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.
The daily trip from Lakeland: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lakeland workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,095 commuters (the 8% 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.
Lakeland quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,239 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 215 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Lakeland on a workday afternoon, 44% 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 2024, primary jobs.
The places Lakeland commutes to
Where Lakeland clocks in
31% 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.
What Lakeland’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lakeland, 2014 → 2024: 244 → 225. 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 Lakeland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Lakeland: questions
What is the median household income in Lakeland?
$91,563 (±$20,924) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lakeland?
2.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lakeland?
23 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lakeland work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Syracuse (31%, 6 mi), DeWitt (11%, 9 mi), Geddes (10%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Lakeland without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lakeland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lakeland
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.