Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0At 15.3%, unemployment in Oswego is among the highest of any U.S. town
About one in ten work in Oswego; the top destination outside it is Oswego (23%, 5 miles). Jobs and income earn Oswego C−; getting around on foot earns it A. The average commute takes 19 minutes each way, where New York has 33 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Oswego
Commutes from Oswego 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, and quicker than any town next door (24 to 27 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
64% of the jobs in Oswego are in trade, transport and utilities, against 23% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Oswego and Oswego trade workers both ways
Oswego is the top workplace for Oswego residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Oswego come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Oswego pay over $40,000 a year
74% of the jobs based in Oswego pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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 ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Oswego
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oswego is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #653 of 758 in New York. Household income holds Oswego’s grade up ($78,083, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oswego could be anywhere from D to C+.
Commuting from Oswego: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oswego workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,592 commuters (the 11% 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.
74% of the jobs in Oswego pay over $3,333 a month
2,813 jobs are based in Oswego.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oswego, 2014 → 2024: 2,283 → 2,813. 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 Oswego’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Oswego commutes to
Where Oswego clocks in
23% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
Miles to work from Oswego
About 34% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How a workday changes Oswego
On a workday 2,010 residents head out to work, 207 work right here, and 2,606 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 (1.27 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.
Oswego is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 18.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 8.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,920 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 44% 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 20.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% 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). 2.9% of Oswego households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Oswego’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,533rd of 2,922: where Oswego ranks among U.S. towns of 6,000 to 11,500
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,531 | Saybrook Township OH | 9,566 | $58K | 13.5% | 7.5% | 10% | C− |
| 2,532 | Kaser NY | 6,121 | $27K | 65.5% | 7.0% | 3% | C− |
| 2,533 | Oswego NY | 8,505 | $78K | 18.7% | 15.3% | 9% | C− |
| 2,534 | Fayetteville TN | 7,068 | $49K | 16.9% | 5.7% | 34% | C− |
| 2,535 | Demopolis AL | 6,641 | $35K | 26.0% | 1.7% | 32% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,922 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Oswego, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns around Oswego
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Oswego’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 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 Oswego: questions
What is the median household income in Oswego?
$78,083 (±$14,171) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oswego?
18.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oswego?
19 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oswego work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oswego (23%, 5 mi), Syracuse (6%, 32 mi), New York City (5%, 232 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Oswego walkable?
Oswego is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 18% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oswego without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oswego, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oswego
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.