With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Lima works elsewhere
Employers in Lima report 331 jobs, and 950 of its residents work somewhere. Lima grades B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 11.9 in Rochester.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lima at work: what stands out
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Lima
On income, poverty and job access, Lima is better than 68% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Lima’s grade up (6.0%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($69,420, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
Unemployment (5.3%) is left out: Lima’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lima could be anywhere from C+ to A.
The daily trip from Lima: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lima workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 766 commuters (the 12% 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 daily flow of workers through Lima
On a workday 918 residents head out to work, 32 work right here, and 299 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Lima on a workday afternoon, 29% 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 2023, primary jobs.
16% of working residents work in Rochester
Where Lima clocks in
16% of workers
11% of workers
11% 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.
Jobs in Lima: what the 331 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lima, 2013 → 2023: 417 → 331. 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 Lima’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Lima works
About 17% 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.
Lima is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lima is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Lima 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 874 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 100% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 53% 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). 10.4% of Lima households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lima’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,404 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900, Lima comes 1,298th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| 8 | Village of the Branch NY | 1,764 | $174K | 1.5% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 9 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,296 | Greenbriar FL | 2,283 | $73K | 9.6% | 3.6% | <1% | B+ |
| 1,297 | Galena Township IN | 1,918 | $86K | 7.5% | 3.1% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,298 | Lima NY | 2,115 | $69K | 6.0% | 5.3% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,299 | Sugarcreek OH | 2,334 | $72K | 1.4% | 4.4% | 14% | B+ |
| 1,300 | Sheridan NY | 2,501 | $87K | 7.5% | 1.3% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Lima, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
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 Lima: questions
What is the median household income in Lima?
$69,420 (±$18,413) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lima?
6.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lima?
23 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lima work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rochester (16%, 18 mi), Henrietta (11%, 10 mi), Mendon (11%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lima walkable?
Lima is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lima without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 100% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lima, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lima
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.