Photo: Caitlin7777 · CC BY-SA 3.0Orchard Park has higher household incomes than 77% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 12.2 in Buffalo. Below the poverty line: 14.6% of residents, next to 14.0% for New York as a whole. Orchard Park grades B for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Orchard Park apart on work
Orchard Park trades workers with the towns around it
Orchard Park has about as many jobs (2,273) as working residents (1,939), but they are mostly different people: 1,834 residents leave for work each day while 2,168 people come in. Only 5% of the jobs in Orchard Park are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Orchard Park are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Orchard Park’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orchard Park is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #373 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Orchard Park’s grade up (ahead of 81% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orchard Park could be anywhere from C+ to A.
A workday in Orchard Park: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,834 residents head out to work, 105 work right here, and 2,168 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,400 people are in Orchard Park on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.17 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Orchard Park
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orchard Park workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,369 commuters (the 17% 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.
22% of working residents work in Buffalo
Where Orchard Park clocks in
22% of workers
16% 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.
Inside Orchard Park’s 2,273 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orchard Park, 2014 → 2024: 2,146 → 2,273. 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 Orchard Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Orchard Park, by distance
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Orchard Park
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orchard Park is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #262 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% 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 1,654 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 4.7% of Orchard Park households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Orchard Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,562 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200, Orchard Park comes 1,964th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 9 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Great Neck Estates NY | 3,139 | $238K | 5.7% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,962 | Trenton IL | 2,643 | $81K | 12.4% | 4.1% | 7% | B |
| 1,963 | Lakehurst NJ | 2,735 | $85K | 10.2% | 5.8% | 3% | B |
| 1,964 | Orchard Park NY | 3,079 | $100K | 14.6% | 6.0% | 5% | B |
| 1,965 | Morgan Township IN | 4,135 | $63K | 9.2% | 2.6% | 3% | B |
| 1,966 | Enetai WA | 2,387 | $88K | 3.0% | 8.5% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,562 | 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 Orchard Park, 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 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 Orchard Park: questions
What is the median household income in Orchard Park?
$99,904 (±$11,625) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orchard Park?
14.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orchard Park?
20 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orchard Park work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Buffalo (22%, 11 mi), Orchard Park (16%, 1 mi), Amherst (10%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Orchard Park walkable?
Orchard Park is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orchard Park without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orchard Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orchard Park
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.