LeRay Mansion · Photo: Ahodges7 · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Le Ray (8.5%) is higher than in 90% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 13 minutes each way; New York averages 33, the U.S. 26. For jobs and income Le Ray is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (B−). Only 6% stay in Le Ray for work; outside it, Watertown is the main destination (20%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Le Ray apart on work
Commutes from Le Ray are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 153 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker, and quicker than any town next door (16 to 26 minutes). Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
48% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
A lot of Le Ray works one town over
35% of working residents work in a town that borders Le Ray: Watertown (20%), Watertown (6%) and Philadelphia (4%). Next door ↓
A young workforce
30% of Le Ray’s working residents are 29 or younger. 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.
Where Le Ray’s Jobs & income grade comes from
The poverty rate holds Le Ray’s grade up (13.0%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Le Ray could be anywhere from D to C.
Commuting from Le Ray: about 13 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Le Ray workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,259 commuters (the 9% 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.
The distance from Le Ray to work
About 48% 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.
What Le Ray’s employers do
1,972 jobs are based in Le Ray.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Le Ray, 2013 → 2023: 1,784 → 1,972. 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 Le Ray’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Le Ray by day
On a workday 3,973 residents head out to work, 255 work right here, and 1,717 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.
0.47 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Le Ray work
Where Le Ray clocks in
Lines 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.
Most of Le Ray commutes by car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 5.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,511 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). 6.3% of Le Ray households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Le Ray’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Le Ray sits among U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Garden City NY | 23,043 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | New Castle NY | 18,259 | $250K | 2.5% | 4.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Mineola NY | 21,376 | $138K | 5.3% | 3.2% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,544 | Harrison Township OH | 21,998 | $45K | 25.0% | 10.7% | 6% | C− |
| 1,545 | Lady Lake FL | 17,496 | $46K | 12.3% | 7.6% | 9% | C− |
| 1,546 | Le Ray NY | 24,259 | $63K | 13.0% | 8.5% | 6% | C− |
| 1,547 | Hamtramck MI | 27,261 | $39K | 39.9% | 13.1% | 6% | C− |
| 1,548 | Laurel MS | 17,662 | $48K | 23.3% | 5.6% | 46% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | 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 Le Ray, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Le Ray and its neighbors: 35% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Le Ray workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Ray | – | C− | B− | 13 min | $63,073 |
| Rutland | under 2% | C− | D | 23 min | $72,404 |
| Champion | 2% | D | B− | 20 min | $56,875 |
| Black River | under 2% | C+ | D | 18 min | $86,645 |
| Pamelia | 3% | B− | D | 19 min | $66,850 |
| Great Bend | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Watertown | 20% | C− | A | 16 min | $51,753 |
| Watertown | 6% | C | C | 24 min | $69,809 |
| Theresa | under 2% | C | D | 26 min | $69,500 |
| Philadelphia | 4% | C− | C | 23 min | $76,364 |
Same-state neighbors only. Great Bend: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Watertown. Darker towns draw more of Le Ray’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 Le Ray: questions
What is the median household income in Le Ray?
$63,073 (±$5,897) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Le Ray?
13.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Le Ray?
13 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Le Ray work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Watertown (20%, 9 mi), Watertown (6%, 12 mi), Philadelphia (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Le Ray walkable?
Le Ray is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Le Ray without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Le Ray, from the people who make the trip.
More of Le Ray
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.