Photo: A1% · CC BY-SA 4.0Port Jervis’ household incomes are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 79.0 in New York City. Below the poverty line: 22.2% of residents (New York 14.0%). Jobs and income earn Port Jervis D; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Port Jervis: the gist
Port Jervis’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Port Jervis is New York City, 63 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (592) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Port Jervis are quick
The average trip to work takes 25 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker, and quicker than any town next door (28 to 37 minutes). Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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.
What’s behind Port Jervis’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Port Jervis is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #730 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Port Jervis’ grade up (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($47,917, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Port Jervis could be anywhere from D− to C.
How far it is to work from Port Jervis
About 33% 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.
About 25 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Port Jervis workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,188 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.
How a workday changes Port Jervis
On a workday 3,234 residents head out to work, 570 work right here, and 2,232 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,500 people are in Port Jervis on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.74 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 2024, primary jobs.
16% of working residents work in New York City
Where Port Jervis clocks in
16% of workers
7% of workers
4% 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.
What the 2,802 jobs in Port Jervis are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Port Jervis, 2014 → 2024: 2,459 → 2,802. 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 Port Jervis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Port Jervis is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Port Jervis is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #121 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Port Jervis near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,488 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 23% 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 20.9% of Port Jervis households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Port Jervis’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Port Jervis compares with 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,756 | Cairo GA | 10,150 | $41K | 28.8% | 5.2% | 23% | D |
| 2,757 | Marion Township IN | 9,002 | $51K | 14.7% | 8.3% | 16% | D |
| 2,758 | Port Jervis NY | 8,518 | $48K | 22.2% | 6.6% | 15% | D |
| 2,759 | Frankfort Township IL | 6,265 | $57K | 23.2% | 13.7% | 8% | D |
| 2,760 | Bonham TX | 11,263 | $58K | 21.7% | 9.4% | 20% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Port Jervis, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns around Port Jervis
The biggest share goes to Deerpark (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Port Jervis workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Jervis | – | D | A | 25 min | $47,917 |
| Deerpark | 4% | C | C | 32 min | $73,081 |
| Sparrow Bush | under 2% | — | — | 37 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Sparrow Bush: 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 Port Jervis’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 Port Jervis: questions
What is the median household income in Port Jervis?
$47,917 (±$13,329) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Port Jervis?
22.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Port Jervis?
25 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 Port Jervis work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (16%, 63 mi), Wallkill (7%, 17 mi), Goshen (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Port Jervis walkable?
Port Jervis is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.0 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Port Jervis without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 21% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Port Jervis, from the people who make the trip.
More of Port Jervis
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.