Rock Island Light Station · Photo: Oralrobert33 · CC BY-SA 4.0Orleans has higher unemployment (6.9%) than 82% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 21 minutes each way, where New York has 33 and the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Orleans C; getting around on foot earns it C+. Only 5% work in Orleans itself; outside it, Watertown draws the most (20%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Orleans stands out on work
A lot of Orleans works one town over
30% of working residents work in a town that borders Orleans: Clayton (16%), Alexandria (6%) and Pamelia (5%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Orleans are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Orleans makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Orleans are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Orleans residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 13%. 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; with 942 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Orleans’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orleans is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #573 of 758 in New York. The poverty rate holds Orleans’ grade up (8.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orleans could be anywhere from C− to B.
The daily trip from Orleans: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orleans workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 789 commuters (the 18% 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.
Orleans makes things: 37% of its jobs are in goods
566 jobs are based in Orleans.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orleans, 2013 → 2023: 454 → 566. 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 Orleans’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Orleans on a workday afternoon
On a workday 896 residents head out to work, 46 work right here, and 520 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Orleans on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.60 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The towns that employ Orleans’ residents
Where Orleans clocks in
16% of workers
6% 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.
How far Orleans’ workers travel
About 25% 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.
The commute in Orleans is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orleans is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #583 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 964 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). 9.7% of Orleans households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Orleans’ commuters take a bus or train.
Orleans next to U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700: 3,312th of 4,969 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 10 | Laurel Hollow NY | 1,949 | $250K | 3.5% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,310 | Cedar Township IL | 2,942 | $67K | 5.6% | 9.2% | 7% | C |
| 3,311 | Polo IL | 2,235 | $63K | 20.5% | 3.0% | 10% | C |
| 3,312 | Orleans NY | 2,721 | $78K | 8.0% | 6.9% | 5% | C |
| 3,313 | Davenport NY | 2,932 | $80K | 7.2% | 11.3% | 9% | C |
| 3,314 | Rome Township OH | 1,948 | $81K | 16.5% | 1.9% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Orleans, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 30% of Orleans
The biggest share goes to Clayton (16%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Orleans workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orleans | – | C | C+ | 21 min | $77,500 |
| Pamelia | 5% | B− | D | 19 min | $66,850 |
| Clayton | 16% | C | B | 26 min | $90,357 |
| Alexandria | 6% | C | B | 21 min | $85,020 |
| Theresa | under 2% | C | D | 26 min | $69,500 |
| Le Ray | 3% | C− | B− | 13 min | $63,073 |
| Brownville | under 2% | B− | D | 25 min | $88,071 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Orleans’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 Orleans: questions
What is the median household income in Orleans?
$77,500 (±$10,653) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orleans?
8.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orleans?
21 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orleans work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Watertown (20%, 18 mi), Clayton (16%, 6 mi), Alexandria (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Orleans walkable?
Orleans is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orleans without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orleans, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orleans
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.