Owasco Reformed Church · Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Owasco has lower unemployment (1.8%) than 87% of U.S. towns
Only 8% work in Owasco itself; outside it, Auburn draws the most (25%, 5 miles). Jobs and income earn Owasco A; getting around on foot earns it D. Household incomes here are higher than in 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Owasco, in a few figures
Commutes from Owasco are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Owasco and Auburn trade workers both ways
Auburn is the top workplace for Owasco residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Owasco come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Owasco is services
88% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 10% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
The figures behind Owasco’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Owasco is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #116 of 758 in New York. Unemployment holds Owasco’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Owasco could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The daily trip from Owasco: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Owasco workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,527 commuters (the 13% 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.
Out of Owasco to work: where people go
Where Owasco clocks in
25% of workers
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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Owasco
1,087 jobs are based in Owasco.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Owasco, 2013 → 2023: 1,142 → 1,087. 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 Owasco’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Owasco: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,500 residents head out to work, 125 work right here, and 962 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Owasco on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.67 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 distance from Owasco to work
About 15% 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.
Driving is how Owasco gets around
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,751 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 5.0% of Owasco households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Owasco’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,535 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,700, Owasco comes 612th 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% | 2% | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 9 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Great Neck Estates NY | 3,139 | $238K | 5.7% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 610 | Prairie du Sac WI | 4,316 | $101K | 7.7% | 0.7% | 12% | A |
| 611 | Franklin Township NJ | 3,049 | $133K | 8.2% | 1.9% | 3% | A |
| 612 | Owasco NY | 3,468 | $102K | 4.3% | 1.8% | 8% | A |
| 613 | Warrington Township PA | 4,681 | $78K | 3.8% | 1.8% | 3% | A |
| 614 | Friendship Heights Village MD | 4,002 | $119K | 10.1% | 3.5% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,535 | 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 Owasco, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 35% of Owasco
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Owasco workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owasco | – | A | D | 23 min | $102,245 |
| Auburn | 25% | C− | A | 20 min | $51,052 |
| Fleming | 3% | B+ | C | 18 min | $92,216 |
| Niles | under 2% | C | C− | 26 min | $80,588 |
| Skaneateles | 7% | B+ | A | 22 min | $103,545 |
| Sennett | under 2% | B+ | B | 21 min | $101,585 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Auburn. Darker towns draw more of Owasco’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 Owasco: questions
What is the median household income in Owasco?
$102,245 (±$10,082) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Owasco?
4.3%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Owasco?
23 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Owasco work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Auburn (25%, 5 mi), Syracuse (8%, 20 mi), Skaneateles (7%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Owasco walkable?
Owasco is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Owasco without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Owasco, from the people who make the trip.
More of Owasco
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.