Photo: Juliancolton · Public domainPoughkeepsie has higher household incomes than 75% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Poughkeepsie is better than 68% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (A). Below the poverty line: 8.2% of residents (New York 14.0%). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 79.0 in New York City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Poughkeepsie and work: the main findings
Poughkeepsie’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Poughkeepsie is New York City, 69 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (2,924) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Poughkeepsie are quick
The average trip to work takes 27 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 46 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.
What’s behind Poughkeepsie’s Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Poughkeepsie’s grade up ($97,724, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Poughkeepsie could be anywhere from B to A−.
The commute from Poughkeepsie, by distance
About 29% 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.
How long Poughkeepsie spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Poughkeepsie workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,698 commuters (the 19% 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.
Who works in Poughkeepsie, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 15,817 residents head out to work, 3,767 work right here, and 22,575 people come in from elsewhere.
About 53,000 people are in Poughkeepsie on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 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.
15% of working residents work in New York City
Where Poughkeepsie clocks in
15% of workers
9% of workers
6% 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.
Jobs in Poughkeepsie: what the 26,342 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Poughkeepsie, 2013 → 2023: 27,233 → 26,342. 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 Poughkeepsie’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Poughkeepsie is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 11.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 7.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 22,972 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 16% 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 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 42% 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). 7.4% of Poughkeepsie households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Poughkeepsie’s commuters take a bus or train.
Poughkeepsie places 478th of 969 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 32,000 to 62,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Eastchester NY | 34,015 | $156K | 4.8% | 2.6% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Clifton Park NY | 37,775 | $133K | 2.3% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Valley Stream NY | 40,379 | $133K | 5.5% | 2.8% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 476 | West Bend WI | 32,268 | $74K | 8.2% | 3.2% | 21% | B+ |
| 477 | Canyon Lake TX | 33,883 | $97K | 7.3% | 4.0% | 8% | B+ |
| 478 | Poughkeepsie NY | 45,986 | $98K | 8.2% | 4.6% | 19% | B+ |
| 479 | Aspen Hill MD | 53,279 | $112K | 9.7% | 7.0% | 3% | B+ |
| 480 | Covina CA | 49,404 | $99K | 8.9% | 6.9% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 969 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Poughkeepsie, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Next door is work for 12% of Poughkeepsie
The biggest share goes to Wappinger (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Poughkeepsie workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poughkeepsie | – | B+ | A | 27 min | $97,724 |
| LaGrange | 3% | B+ | B | 33 min | $121,586 |
| Wappinger | 6% | A− | B | 28 min | $95,234 |
| Hyde Park | 3% | B− | B+ | 29 min | $87,094 |
| Marlborough | under 2% | B+ | B | 32 min | $106,627 |
| Pleasant Valley | under 2% | B+ | B− | 33 min | $101,731 |
| Lloyd | under 2% | B+ | B | 31 min | $92,220 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Poughkeepsie’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 Poughkeepsie: questions
What is the median household income in Poughkeepsie?
$97,724 (±$6,137) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Poughkeepsie?
8.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Poughkeepsie?
27 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Poughkeepsie work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (15%, 69 mi), Poughkeepsie (9%, 2 mi), Wappinger (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Poughkeepsie walkable?
Poughkeepsie is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Poughkeepsie without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Poughkeepsie, from the people who make the trip.
More of Poughkeepsie
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.