Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Making a living in Marathon
Only 5% work in Marathon itself; outside it, Cortland draws the most (10%, 13 miles). Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, against 15% across New York. A typical one-way commute lasts 25 minutes, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Marathon, in brief
Fewer jobs are based in Marathon than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Marathon fell from 641 in 2013 to 394 in 2023, −39%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Marathon are quick
The average trip to work takes 25 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Marathon makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Marathon are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Marathon residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. 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; with 372 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Marathon makes things: 36% of its jobs are in goods
394 jobs are based in Marathon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marathon, 2013 → 2023: 641 → 394. 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 Marathon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Marathon spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marathon workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 408 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.
The daily commute in and out of Marathon
On a workday 353 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 375 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 (1.06 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.
Out of Marathon to work: where people go
Where Marathon clocks in
10% of workers
10% of workers
8% 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 Marathon
About 18% 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 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 Marathon: questions
What is the median household income in Marathon?
$52,198 (±$7,867) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marathon?
13.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marathon?
25 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 Marathon work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cortland (10%, 13 mi), Cortlandville (10%, 12 mi), Marathon (8%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Marathon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Marathon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marathon
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.