Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Olean has 1.4 jobs for every working resident: 5,484 people commute in to work
Jobs & income D: better than 11% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #723 of 758 in New York.
Walkability A: more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns · #147 of 758 in New York.
Household incomes here are lower than in 86% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 14 minutes each way (New York 33, U.S. 26). About one in three work in Olean; the top destination outside it is Allegany (10%, 5 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.0 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 79.0 in New York City (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Olean
What’s behind Olean’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Olean is better than 11% of U.S. towns, #723 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Olean’s grade up (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (26.7%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Olean could be anywhere from D to C.
About 14 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Olean workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,261 commuters (the 8% 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.
Olean fills up on a workday
On a workday 3,463 residents head out to work, 2,052 work right here, and 5,484 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Olean on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.37 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.
10% of working residents work in Allegany
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Olean clocks in
3% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 7,536 jobs in Olean are
7,536 jobs are based in Olean. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Olean’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Olean, 2013 → 2023: 8,352 → 7,536. 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.
Half of Olean commutes less than 4 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 26% 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.
Olean is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Olean is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #147 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Olean 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 5,745 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 34% 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 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 17.5% of Olean households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Olean’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Olean compares with U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Olean, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,390 | Upper Township OH | 13,816 | $49K | 22.3% | 5.9% | 23% | D |
| 2,391 | Marysville CA | 12,738 | $56K | 24.5% | 9.2% | 12% | D |
| 2,392 | Olean NY | 13,508 | $51K | 26.7% | 6.3% | 37% | D |
| 2,393 | Conneaut OH | 12,247 | $62K | 19.4% | 12.5% | 25% | D |
| 2,394 | Monroe GA | 16,507 | $45K | 33.8% | 11.6% | 14% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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.
10% of Olean works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Allegany (10%). Darker towns draw more of Olean’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Olean workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olean | – | D | A | 14 min | $51,261 |
| Allegany | 10% | C | B+ | 20 min | $72,500 |
| Weston Mills | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Weston Mills: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Olean: questions
What is the median household income in Olean?
$51,261 (±$7,453) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Olean?
26.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Olean?
14 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Olean work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Allegany (10%, 5 mi), Olean (3%, 2 mi), Little Valley (3%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Olean walkable?
Olean is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.9 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Olean without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Olean, from the people who make the trip.
More of Olean
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.