Photo: Juliancolton · Public domainAt 8.8%, unemployment in Poughkeepsie is higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 79.0 in New York City. The two grades for Poughkeepsie are C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in seven stay in Poughkeepsie for work; outside it, New York City is the main destination (16%, 71 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Poughkeepsie is New York City, 71 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (2,147) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Poughkeepsie trades workers with the towns around it
Poughkeepsie has about as many jobs (12,752) as working residents (13,296), but they are mostly different people: 11,326 residents leave for work each day while 10,782 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Poughkeepsie are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Poughkeepsie are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Poughkeepsie is services
86% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 8% 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.
What’s behind Poughkeepsie’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Poughkeepsie is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #622 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Poughkeepsie’s grade up (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Poughkeepsie could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Near or far: the trip to work from Poughkeepsie
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.
Poughkeepsie on a workday afternoon
On a workday 11,326 residents head out to work, 1,970 work right here, and 10,782 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.96 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.
How long Poughkeepsie spends getting to work: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 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 13,814 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
12,752 jobs are based in Poughkeepsie.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Poughkeepsie, 2013 → 2023: 14,411 → 12,752. 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.
Where the trip to work from Poughkeepsie ends
Where Poughkeepsie clocks in
16% of workers
15% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Poughkeepsie
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Poughkeepsie is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #139 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Poughkeepsie 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 15,172 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 22% 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% 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). 20.3% of Poughkeepsie households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Poughkeepsie’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Poughkeepsie ranks: 1,146th of 1,283 U.S. towns of 23,000 to 44,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Eastchester NY | 34,015 | $156K | 4.8% | 2.6% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Garden City NY | 23,043 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 50 | Clifton Park NY | 37,775 | $133K | 2.3% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,144 | Lauderdale Lakes FL | 36,898 | $50K | 21.7% | 8.7% | 3% | C− |
| 1,145 | Freeport IL | 23,202 | $52K | 19.6% | 4.5% | 36% | C− |
| 1,146 | Poughkeepsie NY | 32,499 | $61K | 17.6% | 8.8% | 15% | C− |
| 1,147 | Ardmore OK | 24,956 | $54K | 17.4% | 4.5% | 54% | C− |
| 1,148 | Longview WA | 38,362 | $62K | 16.0% | 6.0% | 27% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,283 | 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.
The towns around Poughkeepsie
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Poughkeepsie workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poughkeepsie | – | C− | A | 24 min | $60,741 |
| Fairview | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Lloyd | under 2% | B+ | B | 31 min | $92,220 |
| Arlington | under 2% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Vassar College | under 2% | — | — | 12 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Fairview, Arlington and Vassar College: 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 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?
$60,741 (±$5,784) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Poughkeepsie?
17.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Poughkeepsie?
24 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 Poughkeepsie work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (16%, 71 mi), Poughkeepsie (15%, 2 mi), Wappinger (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Poughkeepsie walkable?
Poughkeepsie is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Poughkeepsie without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 20% 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.