Photo: Oydman · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Locke works elsewhere
85 jobs are based in Locke, and 829 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Locke is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−). Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers (New York 15%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Locke
Locke is a place people come home to
There are 85 jobs based in Locke, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Locke has about 1,100 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Locke 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 ↓
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; with 829 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Locke’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Household income holds Locke’s grade up ($69,125, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (0.6%) is left out: Locke’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, Locke could be anywhere from D to C+.
Locke by day and by night
On a workday 813 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 69 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Locke on a workday afternoon, 39% 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.
Each way, about 23 minutes from Locke
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Locke workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 826 commuters (the 5% 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.
9% of working residents work in Cortlandville
Where Locke clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
Locke makes things: 56% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Locke, 2013 → 2023: 112 → 85. 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 Locke’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Locke’s workers travel
About 19% 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.
The commute in Locke is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Locke is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Locke 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 868 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.3% of Locke households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Locke’s commuters take a bus or train.
Locke is 4,486th of 5,921 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 4 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,484 | Arlington Township MI | 1,947 | $65K | 17.4% | 5.7% | 4% | C− |
| 4,485 | West Turin NY | 1,680 | $69K | 13.2% | 4.5% | 6% | C− |
| 4,486 | Locke NY | 1,893 | $69K | 21.2% | 0.6% | 2% | C− |
| 4,487 | Paint Township OH | 1,307 | $52K | 10.1% | 0.0% | <1% | C− |
| 4,488 | Brushcreek Township OH | 1,439 | $66K | 12.6% | 3.1% | <1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Locke, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
16% of Locke works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Moravia (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Locke workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locke | – | C− | D− | 23 min | $69,125 |
| Summerhill | under 3% | C− | D− | 29 min | $68,047 |
| Genoa | under 3% | B | C | 23 min | $92,833 |
| Lansing | 7% | C+ | B+ | 20 min | $86,342 |
| Groton | under 3% | B− | B− | 21 min | $69,113 |
| Moravia | 9% | C | B | 25 min | $61,116 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Locke’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 Locke: questions
What is the median household income in Locke?
$69,125 (±$5,138) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Locke?
21.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Locke?
23 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Locke work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cortlandville (9%, 16 mi), Moravia (9%, 6 mi), Ithaca (7%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Locke walkable?
Locke is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 2.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Locke without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Locke, from the people who make the trip.
More of Locke
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.