Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0A job hub: Menands has 2.0 jobs per working resident, and 4,186 people come in to work
4,264 jobs are based in Menands for 2,124 working residents. Menands grades A− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 9.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 21.9 in Albany.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Menands
Much of Menands works one town over
57% of working residents work in a town that borders Menands: Albany (39%) and Colonie (18%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Menands 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 ↓
Menands is where the jobs are
Menands has 4,264 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,800 people are in town, 46% more than the 4,600 who live here. Day and night ↓
Most Menands residents work close to home
71% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Most jobs in Menands pay over $40,000 a year
80% of the jobs based in Menands pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Menands
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Menands is better than 84% of U.S. towns, #129 of 758 in New York. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($80,583, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Menands could be anywhere from B− to A+.
A commute of about 21 minutes in Menands
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Menands workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,144 commuters (the 18% 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.
Who works in Menands, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,046 residents head out to work and 78 work right here.
About 6,800 people are in Menands on a workday afternoon, 46% more 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.
The distance from Menands to work
About 16% 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.
80% of the jobs in Menands pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Menands, 2013 → 2023: 3,601 → 4,264. 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 Menands’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Menands: where workers come from
Where Menands clocks in
39% of workers
18% of workers
5% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Menands
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Menands is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #111 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Menands 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 2,615 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, 57% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 5.9% of Menands households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Menands’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Menands is 650th among 3,938 U.S. towns of 3,200 to 6,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | North Hills NY | 5,481 | $173K | 3.0% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 648 | Norwich VT | 3,577 | $140K | 2.8% | 3.0% | 12% | A− |
| 649 | Castle Pines Village CO | 4,436 | $250K | 4.1% | 6.4% | 4% | A− |
| 650 | Menands NY | 4,615 | $81K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 4% | A− |
| 651 | Yorkville WI | 3,253 | $123K | 5.3% | 5.0% | 7% | A− |
| 652 | Metamora Township MI | 4,573 | $109K | 3.9% | 3.1% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,938 | 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 Menands, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Menands and its neighbors: 57% work next door
The biggest share goes to Albany (39%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Menands workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Menands | – | A− | A | 21 min | $80,583 |
| Loudonville | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Colonie | 18% | A− | A− | 20 min | $101,676 |
| Albany | 39% | C | A+ | 20 min | $61,986 |
| North Greenbush | under 2% | A | B+ | 21 min | $117,372 |
Same-state neighbors only. Loudonville: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Menands’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 Menands: questions
What is the median household income in Menands?
$80,583 (±$11,038) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Menands?
5.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Menands?
21 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Menands work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albany (39%, 4 mi), Colonie (18%, 5 mi), New York City (5%, 140 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Menands walkable?
Menands is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Menands without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 57% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Menands, from the people who make the trip.
More of Menands
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.