Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Lyons (5.2%) is higher than in 64% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 11.9 in Rochester. For jobs and income Lyons is better than 33% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (A−). About one in seven work in Lyons itself; outside it, Arcadia draws the most (15%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Lyons
Lyons trades workers with the towns around it
Lyons has about as many jobs (2,239) as working residents (2,232), but they are mostly different people: 1,895 residents leave for work each day while 1,902 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Lyons are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Lyons are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Lyons and Arcadia trade workers both ways
Arcadia is the top workplace for Lyons residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Lyons come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
The four measures behind Lyons’ grade
Household income holds Lyons’ grade up ($74,524, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (14.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lyons could be anywhere from D to B+.
In and out of Lyons on a workday
On a workday 1,895 residents head out to work, 337 work right here, and 1,902 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.00 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How long Lyons spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lyons workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,121 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 towns that employ Lyons’ residents
Where Lyons clocks in
6% of workers
4% 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.
In Lyons, services account for most jobs
2,239 jobs are based in Lyons.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lyons, 2013 → 2023: 2,642 → 2,239. 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 Lyons’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Lyons to work
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Good to walk, short on transit: Lyons
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,404 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 65% 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 49% 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). 13.4% of Lyons households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Lyons’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Lyons is 2,480th among 3,502 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 16 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,478 | Toronto OH | 5,149 | $56K | 15.2% | 2.9% | 20% | C |
| 2,479 | Monongahela PA | 4,041 | $60K | 12.3% | 6.9% | 6% | C |
| 2,480 | Lyons NY | 5,555 | $75K | 14.3% | 5.2% | 15% | C |
| 2,481 | Sheridan CO | 5,972 | $61K | 14.0% | 14.5% | 3% | C |
| 2,482 | McGregor TX | 6,405 | $73K | 12.8% | 7.4% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,502 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Lyons, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 18% of Lyons
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lyons workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyons | – | C | A− | 21 min | $74,524 |
| Arcadia | 15% | C+ | B | 23 min | $63,398 |
| Rose | under 2% | C | C | 26 min | $76,200 |
| Galen | under 2% | C− | C+ | 22 min | $64,177 |
| Sodus | 3% | C | B | 23 min | $70,478 |
| Phelps | under 2% | B | C+ | 21 min | $80,262 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Arcadia. Darker towns draw more of Lyons’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 Lyons: questions
What is the median household income in Lyons?
$74,524 (±$11,618) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lyons?
14.3%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lyons?
21 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 Lyons work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Arcadia (15%, 4 mi), Rochester (6%, 31 mi), Geneva (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lyons walkable?
Lyons is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lyons without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lyons, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lyons
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.