Household incomes in Lawrence trail those of 67% of U.S. towns
At home: 6% of workers have no commute at all (New York 15%). The poverty rate is 12.5% (New York 14.0%). Jobs and income earn Lawrence C−; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Lawrence
Lawrence makes and builds things
66% of the jobs based in Lawrence are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Lawrence residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Lawrence pay better than its residents’ jobs
84% of the jobs based in Lawrence pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 62% of the jobs Lawrence residents hold. 90% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Lawrence. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Lawrence are quick
The average trip to work takes 26 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 54 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 616 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Lawrence: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Lawrence is better than 16% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Lawrence’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down.
Unemployment (1.2%) is left out: Lawrence’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, Lawrence could be anywhere from D to C.
66% of the jobs in Lawrence make or build things
386 jobs are based in Lawrence.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lawrence, 2014 → 2024: 252 → 386. 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 Lawrence’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Lawrence: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lawrence workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 620 commuters (the 6% 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.
How many people are in Lawrence by day
On a workday 579 residents head out to work, 37 work right here, and 349 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Lawrence on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.63 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
14% of working residents work in Potsdam
Where Lawrence clocks in
12% of workers
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.
Miles to work from Lawrence
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.
The commute in Lawrence is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lawrence is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 2.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 663 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). 10.0% of Lawrence households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lawrence’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lawrence next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400: 4,618th of 6,085 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,616 | Jefferson Township IN | 1,566 | $67K | 17.9% | 1.0% | 2% | C− |
| 4,617 | Scott Township KS | 2,291 | $72K | 15.9% | 8.5% | 3% | C− |
| 4,618 | Lawrence NY | 1,746 | $64K | 12.5% | 1.2% | 6% | C− |
| 4,619 | Gainesville NY | 1,972 | $56K | 11.3% | 3.3% | 11% | C− |
| 4,620 | Berkshire VT | 1,605 | $71K | 14.6% | 0.3% | 4% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 7% | 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 Lawrence, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Around Lawrence: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lawrence workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence | – | C− | C | 26 min | $64,318 |
| Hopkinton | 3% | D | D− | 25 min | $61,125 |
| Brasher | 6% | D | B− | 20 min | $53,911 |
| Brasher Falls | under 3% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Stockholm | under 3% | C+ | D− | 23 min | $77,097 |
| Dickinson | under 3% | — | — | 37 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Brasher Falls: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Dickinson: the same community as the town of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Brasher. Darker towns draw more of Lawrence’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 Lawrence: questions
What is the median household income in Lawrence?
$64,318 (±$10,856) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lawrence?
12.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lawrence?
26 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lawrence work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Potsdam (14%, 18 mi), Massena (12%, 17 mi), Malone (6%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lawrence walkable?
Lawrence is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 2.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lawrence without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lawrence, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lawrence
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. 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.