Riga Academy · Photo: DanielPenfield · CC BY-SA 4.0At 2.5%, unemployment in Riga is lower than in 77% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Riga are A for jobs and income and D for walkability. About one in ten stay in Riga for work; outside it, Rochester is the main destination (25%, 14 miles). 3.2% of residents are in poverty (New York 14.0%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Riga apart on work
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Riga
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Riga is better than 92% of U.S. towns, #61 of 758 in New York. The poverty rate is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 75% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Riga could be anywhere from A− to A+.
From Riga, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Riga workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,469 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.
How a workday changes Riga
On a workday 2,319 residents head out to work, 220 work right here, and 1,373 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,500 people are in Riga on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.63 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 towns that employ Riga’s residents
Where Riga clocks in
25% 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.
What the 1,593 jobs in Riga are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Riga, 2013 → 2023: 1,610 → 1,593. 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 Riga’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Riga
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.
In Riga, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Riga is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns, #741 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Riga 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 2,766 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). 3.1% of Riga households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Riga’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Riga ranks: 329th of 3,612 U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,400
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 17 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 327 | Pennsburg PA | 4,036 | $112K | 6.7% | 1.7% | 6% | A |
| 328 | Ray Township MI | 3,848 | $118K | 6.4% | 0.9% | 5% | A |
| 329 | Riga NY | 5,471 | $101K | 3.2% | 2.5% | 9% | A |
| 330 | Marilla NY | 5,119 | $93K | 2.7% | 1.5% | 7% | A |
| 331 | Burbank CA | 5,333 | $135K | 11.1% | 1.4% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,612 | 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 Riga, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
10% of Riga works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Chili (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Riga workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riga | – | A | D | 24 min | $100,750 |
| Bergen | under 3% | B | B | 21 min | $75,327 |
| Chili | 5% | A− | B | 21 min | $89,793 |
| Wheatland | under 3% | B | C− | 24 min | $82,538 |
| Le Roy | under 3% | B+ | C+ | 26 min | $72,978 |
| Ogden | 5% | A | B− | 20 min | $91,563 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Riga’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 Riga: questions
What is the median household income in Riga?
$100,750 (±$9,533) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Riga?
3.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Riga?
24 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 Riga work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rochester (25%, 14 mi), Henrietta (6%, 12 mi), Gates (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Riga walkable?
Riga is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Riga without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Riga, from the people who make the trip.
More of Riga
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.