Asa and Caroline Wing House · Photo: Jj21760 · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Mexico are lower than in 75% of U.S. towns
For 7% of workers, the job is at home (New York 15%). The two grades for Mexico are C for jobs and income and C for walkability. About one in ten work in Mexico; the top destination outside it is Oswego (9%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Mexico
Why Mexico gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mexico is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #559 of 758 in New York. Unemployment holds Mexico’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($59,081, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mexico could be anywhere from D to B.
About 25 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mexico workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,131 commuters (the 7% 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.
How many people are in Mexico by day
On a workday 1,838 residents head out to work, 248 work right here, and 1,138 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,700 people are in Mexico on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.66 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Mexico: the destinations
Where Mexico clocks in
9% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Mexico
1,386 jobs are based in Mexico.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mexico, 2014 → 2024: 1,423 → 1,386. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Mexico’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Mexico goes to work
About 20% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Mexico, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mexico is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #626 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Mexico 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 2,294 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 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% 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 Mexico households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Mexico’s commuters take a bus or train.
Mexico is 2,605th of 3,651 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,200 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 5% | A+ |
| 21 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,603 | Folcroft PA | 6,780 | $61K | 16.2% | 10.3% | 3% | C |
| 2,604 | Rockdale TX | 5,688 | $61K | 9.1% | 4.3% | 22% | C |
| 2,605 | Mexico NY | 5,357 | $59K | 14.0% | 3.6% | 12% | C |
| 2,606 | German Township PA | 4,483 | $62K | 7.6% | 6.0% | 6% | C |
| 2,607 | Marine City MI | 3,997 | $68K | 7.6% | 9.2% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,651 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Mexico, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
How Mexico compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Richland (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mexico workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | – | C | C | 25 min | $59,081 |
| New Haven | under 3% | C | D | 23 min | $91,324 |
| Richland | 4% | C− | C+ | 30 min | $67,904 |
| Parish | under 3% | C− | C− | 32 min | $68,164 |
| Palermo | under 3% | C+ | D | 27 min | $71,548 |
| Hastings | under 3% | C+ | C+ | 31 min | $84,027 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mexico’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 2024, 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 Mexico: questions
What is the median household income in Mexico?
$59,081 (±$12,631) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mexico?
14.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mexico?
25 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mexico work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oswego (9%, 15 mi), Syracuse (8%, 29 mi), DeWitt (5%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Mexico walkable?
Mexico is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mexico without a car?
<1% 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 Mexico, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mexico
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.