Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Making a living in North Syracuse
Only 5% stay in North Syracuse for work; outside it, Syracuse is the main destination (26%, 6 miles). Jobs and income earn North Syracuse B; getting around on foot earns it B+. For 7% of workers, the job is at home, against 15% across New York.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in North Syracuse: the figures worth knowing
North Syracuse trades workers with the towns around it
North Syracuse has about as many jobs (2,967) as working residents (3,066), but they are mostly different people: 2,900 residents leave for work each day while 2,801 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in North Syracuse are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from North Syracuse 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 ↓
Most North Syracuse residents work close to home
73% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
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.
Inside North Syracuse’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, North Syracuse is better than 62% of U.S. towns, #315 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds North Syracuse’s grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($71,026, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, North Syracuse could be anywhere from C+ to A.
How a workday changes North Syracuse
On a workday 2,900 residents head out to work, 166 work right here, and 2,801 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 (0.97 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 North Syracuse spends getting to work: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of North Syracuse workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,416 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.
Where in the region North Syracuse works
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.
Where the trip to work from North Syracuse ends
Where North Syracuse clocks in
26% of workers
13% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in North Syracuse
2,967 jobs are based in North Syracuse.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North Syracuse, 2013 → 2023: 3,412 → 2,967. 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 North Syracuse’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In North Syracuse, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, North Syracuse is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #343 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 3,664 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, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% 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). 11.5% of North Syracuse households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of North Syracuse’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, North Syracuse is 1,458th among 3,253 U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,100
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,456 | Primera TX | 5,478 | $80K | 13.1% | 2.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,457 | Helena Valley West Central MT | 8,056 | $90K | 7.1% | 3.8% | 4% | B |
| 1,458 | North Syracuse NY | 6,773 | $71K | 9.2% | 3.8% | 5% | B |
| 1,459 | Lebanon Township NJ | 6,229 | $130K | 7.9% | 8.2% | 4% | B |
| 1,460 | Miami Township OH | 5,008 | $89K | 8.0% | 5.5% | 21% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,253 | 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 North Syracuse, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
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 North Syracuse: questions
What is the median household income in North Syracuse?
$71,026 (±$7,061) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North Syracuse?
9.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North Syracuse?
19 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 North Syracuse work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Syracuse (26%, 6 mi), DeWitt (13%, 6 mi), Clay (13%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is North Syracuse walkable?
North Syracuse is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around North Syracuse without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North Syracuse, from the people who make the trip.
More of North Syracuse
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.