Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Oswego (8.1%) is higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Oswego is behind 84% of U.S. towns. About one in three work in Oswego itself; outside it, Oswego draws the most (8%, 5 miles). 9% of workers have no commute at all, where New York as a whole has 15%.
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 Oswego
What’s behind Oswego’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oswego is better than 13% of U.S. towns, #708 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Oswego’s grade up (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns); 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−.
About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 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 7,059 commuters (the 9% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Oswego
On a workday 4,306 residents head out to work, 2,300 work right here, and 6,975 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Oswego on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.40 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.
The places Oswego commutes to
Where Oswego clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Oswego
9,275 jobs are based in Oswego.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oswego, 2013 → 2023: 9,238 → 9,275. 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 Oswego’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Oswego’s commute, mile by mile
About 21% 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.
Oswego is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,725 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 92% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 14.9% of Oswego households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Oswego’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Oswego compares with U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Victor NY | 16,422 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,882 | McKeesport PA | 16,907 | $34K | 32.0% | 11.5% | 12% | D |
| 1,883 | Jacksonville TX | 14,658 | $51K | 26.5% | 6.4% | 32% | D |
| 1,884 | Oswego NY | 17,024 | $53K | 20.6% | 8.1% | 35% | D |
| 1,885 | Fortuna CA | 12,003 | $62K | 18.2% | 7.0% | 24% | D |
| 1,886 | Cumberland MD | 18,799 | $48K | 25.1% | 6.3% | 35% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | 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 Oswego, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Oswego and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Scriba (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oswego workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oswego | – | D | A+ | 19 min | $53,172 |
| Minetto | under 2% | B+ | C− | 24 min | $100,682 |
| Scriba | 4% | B− | B− | 21 min | $92,036 |
| SUNY Oswego | under 2% | — | — | 9 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. SUNY Oswego: 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 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 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 Oswego: questions
What is the median household income in Oswego?
$53,172 (±$4,465) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oswego?
20.6%, 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. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oswego work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oswego (8%, 5 mi), Syracuse (7%, 34 mi), Fulton (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oswego walkable?
Oswego is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.4 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oswego without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. 92% 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), 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.