Photo: DanielPenfield · CC BY-SA 4.0At 6.4%, unemployment in Oneonta is higher than in 78% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 72% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Oneonta are C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in five work in Oneonta itself; outside it, Oneonta draws the most (10%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Oneonta
Commutes from Oneonta are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 138 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
41% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Oneonta draws workers from far and wide
The 5,372 jobs in Oneonta are filled from a wide area. Oneonta’s own residents hold 16% and the ten next-biggest home towns 27%; the other 57% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Oneonta is services
86% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 6% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
Inside Oneonta’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oneonta is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #668 of 758 in New York. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Oneonta’s grade.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oneonta could be anywhere from D to B−.
About 15 minutes to work from Oneonta
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oneonta workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,512 commuters (the 10% 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.
The commute from Oneonta, by distance
About 41% 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 people from Oneonta work
Where Oneonta clocks in
10% of workers
9% of workers
4% 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.
Most jobs in Oneonta are in services
5,372 jobs are based in Oneonta.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oneonta, 2013 → 2023: 5,980 → 5,372. 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 Oneonta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Oneonta, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,162 residents head out to work, 883 work right here, and 4,489 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 (1.33 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Oneonta
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oneonta is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #164 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 21.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 8.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,136 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 12.1% of Oneonta households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Oneonta’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Oneonta compares with U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Victor NY | 16,422 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,905 | Amsterdam NY | 18,093 | $56K | 20.2% | 6.7% | 22% | C− |
| 1,906 | Kings Mountain NC | 12,117 | $50K | 23.0% | 7.7% | 15% | C− |
| 1,907 | Oneonta NY | 15,665 | $61K | 16.6% | 6.4% | 22% | C− |
| 1,908 | Fort Morgan CO | 11,841 | $64K | 16.0% | 6.4% | 46% | C− |
| 1,909 | Niles MI | 11,665 | $51K | 17.8% | 10.8% | 13% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Oneonta, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Work in the towns next to Oneonta
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oneonta workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oneonta | – | C− | A | 15 min | $61,111 |
| West End | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. West End: 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 Oneonta’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 Oneonta: questions
What is the median household income in Oneonta?
$61,111 (±$4,489) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oneonta?
16.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oneonta?
15 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oneonta work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oneonta (10%, 3 mi), New York City (9%, 137 mi), Albany (4%, 66 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oneonta walkable?
Oneonta is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 22% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oneonta without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oneonta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oneonta
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.