Chapin Memorial Church · Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0There are 2.6 jobs in Otsego for every working resident, and 3,417 people commute in
About two in five stay in Otsego for work; outside it, New York City is the main destination (5%, 154 miles). Employers in Otsego report 4,041 jobs; 1,557 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Otsego is better than 38% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Otsego in brief
Otsego is where the jobs are
Otsego has 4,041 jobs, 2.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,100 people are in town, 69% more than the 3,600 who live here. Day and night ↓
Nearly all the work in Otsego is services
92% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 2% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Otsego are quick
The average trip to work takes 26 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 54 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The four measures behind Otsego’s grade
The poverty rate holds Otsego’s grade up (6.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 23% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Otsego could be anywhere from C− to B+.
How many people are in Otsego by day
On a workday 933 residents head out to work and 624 work right here.
About 6,100 people are in Otsego on a workday afternoon, 69% more than live here.
2.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Otsego
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Otsego, 2013 → 2023: 4,966 → 4,041. 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 Otsego’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Otsego: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Otsego workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,408 commuters (the 20% 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.
Commuting in to Otsego: where workers come from
Where Otsego clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Otsego
About 30% 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.
In Otsego, walking beats the bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 28.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,758 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). 6.5% of Otsego households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Otsego’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Otsego is 2,807th of 4,474 U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 8 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Great Neck Estates NY | 3,139 | $238K | 5.7% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,805 | Mount Oliver PA | 3,222 | $52K | 15.1% | 5.5% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,806 | Veteran NY | 3,179 | $65K | 7.5% | 5.6% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,807 | Otsego NY | 3,621 | $73K | 6.9% | 5.6% | 40% | C+ |
| 2,808 | Camden NY | 4,655 | $62K | 7.9% | 3.4% | 25% | C+ |
| 2,809 | Sullivan Township OH | 2,735 | $67K | 12.5% | 1.1% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Otsego, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Next door to Otsego
The biggest share goes to Middlefield (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Otsego workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otsego | – | C+ | A− | 26 min | $72,891 |
| Middlefield | 3% | B | B− | 19 min | $118,333 |
| Hartwick | 3% | C | B | 18 min | $81,196 |
| Exeter | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Schuyler Lake | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Springfield | 1% | D | C | 30 min | $62,965 |
| Burlington | under 2% | C− | D | 32 min | $66,196 |
| Richfield | under 2% | C− | B− | 31 min | $59,833 |
| Hartwick Seminary | under 2% | — | — | 10 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Exeter: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Schuyler Lake and Hartwick Seminary: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Otsego’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 Otsego: questions
What is the median household income in Otsego?
$72,891 (±$15,701) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Otsego?
6.9%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Otsego?
26 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Otsego work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (5%, 154 mi), Oneonta (4%, 22 mi), Albany (3%, 60 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Otsego walkable?
Otsego is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 29% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Otsego without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Otsego, from the people who make the trip.
More of Otsego
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.