Photo: Alexisrael · CC BY-SA 3.0Ramapo has higher unemployment (5.5%) than 68% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 79.0 in New York City. Jobs and income earn Ramapo B−; getting around on foot earns it A. About one in three stay in Ramapo for work; outside it, New York City is the main destination (20%, 34 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Ramapo
Ramapo’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Ramapo is New York City, 34 miles away as the crow flies. 20% of working residents (10,209) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Ramapo 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 ↓
Ramapo has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Ramapo went from 31,167 in 2013 to 46,350 in 2023, +49%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Ramapo
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ramapo is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #426 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Ramapo’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (26.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ramapo could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
The commute from Ramapo, by distance
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.
The trip to work from Ramapo: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ramapo workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 49,054 commuters (the 11% 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.
What the 46,350 jobs in Ramapo are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ramapo, 2013 → 2023: 31,167 → 46,350. 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 Ramapo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Ramapo
On a workday 34,027 residents head out to work, 17,333 work right here, and 29,017 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 (0.90 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.
The towns that employ Ramapo’s residents
Where Ramapo clocks in
20% of workers
8% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Ramapo
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ramapo is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #137 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 14.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 9.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 55,316 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, 3% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 52% 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). 15.4% of Ramapo households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Ramapo’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
122nd of 201: where Ramapo ranks among U.S. towns of 113,000 to 218,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Smithtown NY | 116,847 | $153K | 4.2% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| 3 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Huntington NY | 205,891 | $168K | 5.0% | 4.3% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Amherst NY | 130,442 | $93K | 10.1% | 3.3% | 30% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Vallejo CA | 123,287 | $90K | 12.2% | 7.4% | 13% | B− |
| 121 | North Charleston SC | 129,245 | $63K | 14.4% | 4.3% | 34% | B− |
| 122 | Ramapo NY | 161,564 | $82K | 26.5% | 5.5% | 34% | B− |
| 123 | Grand Rapids MI | 201,183 | $69K | 16.9% | 5.2% | 34% | B− |
| 124 | Abilene TX | 131,588 | $63K | 16.1% | 3.0% | 62% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Ramapo, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Next door is work for 12% of Ramapo
The biggest share goes to Clarkstown (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ramapo workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramapo | – | B− | A | 26 min | $82,463 |
| Clarkstown | 8% | A− | A | 32 min | $136,883 |
| Chestnut Ridge | under 1% | A− | A− | 27 min | $111,725 |
| New City | under 1% | — | — | 36 min | — |
| Nanuet | under 1% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Pearl River | under 1% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Orangetown | 3% | A | A | 33 min | $145,007 |
| Haverstraw | 1% | B | A | 30 min | $89,107 |
| Tuxedo | under 1% | A− | B+ | 40 min | $109,205 |
| Tuxedo | under 1% | A | B+ | 40 min | $129,598 |
Same-state neighbors only. New City, Nanuet and Pearl River: 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 Ramapo’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 Ramapo: questions
What is the median household income in Ramapo?
$82,463 (±$3,644) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ramapo?
26.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ramapo?
26 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ramapo work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (20%, 34 mi), Clarkstown (8%, 7 mi), Orangetown (3%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ramapo walkable?
Ramapo is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ramapo without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. 3% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ramapo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ramapo
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.