Town of Niagara District School No. 2 · Photo: Pubdog · Public domainNiagara has higher unemployment (9.2%) than 92% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 6% of workers, against 15% across New York. Jobs and income earn Niagara C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Household incomes here are lower than in 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Niagara stands out on work
Commutes from Niagara are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 107 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Niagara and Niagara Falls trade workers both ways
Niagara Falls is the top workplace for Niagara residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Niagara come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Niagara is where the jobs are
Niagara has 5,412 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
40% of the jobs in Niagara are in trade, transport and utilities, against 21% of the jobs its residents hold. 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.
Niagara’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Niagara is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #642 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Niagara’s grade up (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Niagara could be anywhere from D to C+.
The trip to work from Niagara: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Niagara workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,975 commuters (the 6% 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.
Where Niagara’s workforce comes from
Where Niagara clocks in
18% of workers
13% of workers
10% 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.
Niagara by day and by night
On a workday 3,112 residents head out to work, 356 work right here, and 5,056 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,600 people are in Niagara on a workday afternoon, 25% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What the 5,412 jobs in Niagara are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Niagara, 2013 → 2023: 4,652 → 5,412. 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 Niagara’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Niagara’s commute, mile by mile
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.
For most of Niagara, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Niagara is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #394 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 32.9% across New York.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,156 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 31% 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 4.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% 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). 7.5% of Niagara households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Niagara’s commuters take a bus or train.
Niagara places 2,573rd of 3,051 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,400 to 10,400
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 15 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,571 | Barnesville GA | 6,329 | $57K | 14.0% | 5.6% | 11% | C− |
| 2,572 | Ashland WI | 7,927 | $55K | 17.8% | 3.7% | 50% | C− |
| 2,573 | Niagara NY | 7,668 | $57K | 21.3% | 9.2% | 10% | C− |
| 2,574 | Pike Township OH | 6,719 | $59K | 21.1% | 4.3% | 25% | C− |
| 2,575 | Swannanoa NC | 6,901 | $70K | 16.8% | 14.8% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,051 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Niagara, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
30% of Niagara works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Niagara Falls (18%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Niagara workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara | – | C− | B+ | 19 min | $56,645 |
| Niagara Falls | 18% | C− | A+ | 19 min | $49,101 |
| Lewiston | 6% | B | B+ | 21 min | $78,400 |
| Wheatfield | 6% | A− | C+ | 23 min | $93,682 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Niagara’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 Niagara: questions
What is the median household income in Niagara?
$56,645 (±$5,456) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Niagara?
21.3%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Niagara?
19 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Niagara work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Niagara Falls (18%, 2 mi), Buffalo (13%, 17 mi), Amherst (10%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Niagara walkable?
Niagara is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Niagara without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Niagara, from the people who make the trip.
More of Niagara
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.