Fort Stanwix National Monument · Photo: M Colangelo Sr · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Rome have lower incomes than those in 74% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 18.1%, against 14.0% across New York. Rome grades C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 79.0 in New York City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Rome: the figures worth knowing
How Rome earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rome is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #621 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Rome’s grade up (ahead of 56% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rome could be anywhere from C− to C+.
How long Rome spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rome workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,065 commuters (the 13% 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.
Rome by day and by night
On a workday 7,804 residents head out to work, 3,606 work right here, and 10,490 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 (1.24 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.
12% of working residents work in Utica
Where Rome clocks in
12% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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 Rome’s employers do
14,096 jobs are based in Rome.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rome, 2013 → 2023: 15,656 → 14,096. 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 Rome’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Rome
About 21% 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.
Rome is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rome is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #176 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Rome 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 12,695 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 80% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 56% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 17.6% of Rome households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Rome’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Rome is 1,220th of 1,368 U.S. towns of 22,000 to 43,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Eastchester NY | 34,015 | $156K | 4.8% | 2.6% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Garden City NY | 23,043 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 52 | Clifton Park NY | 37,775 | $133K | 2.3% | 2.0% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,218 | New London CT | 28,003 | $59K | 21.6% | 6.5% | 18% | C− |
| 1,219 | Calumet City IL | 34,798 | $55K | 23.4% | 10.6% | 4% | C− |
| 1,220 | Rome NY | 31,682 | $60K | 18.1% | 5.9% | 32% | C− |
| 1,221 | Lauderdale Lakes FL | 36,898 | $50K | 21.7% | 8.7% | 3% | C− |
| 1,222 | Freeport IL | 23,202 | $52K | 19.6% | 4.5% | 36% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,368 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Rome, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
10% of Rome works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Verona (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rome workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rome | – | C− | A | 18 min | $59,925 |
| Verona | 5% | B− | C | 19 min | $83,534 |
| Vienna | under 2% | C+ | C+ | 28 min | $83,244 |
| Floyd | under 2% | B+ | D− | 19 min | $98,297 |
| Lee | under 2% | B+ | C− | 22 min | $94,137 |
| Westmoreland | under 2% | A | C | 27 min | $105,333 |
| Western | under 2% | B− | D | 25 min | $88,964 |
| Whitestown | 5% | B+ | B | 17 min | $80,168 |
| Annsville | under 2% | C− | D− | 29 min | $66,812 |
| Lake Delta | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lake Delta: 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 Rome’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 Rome: questions
What is the median household income in Rome?
$59,925 (±$3,439) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rome?
18.1%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rome?
18 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rome work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Utica (12%, 16 mi), Verona (5%, 8 mi), Whitestown (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rome walkable?
Rome is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rome without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. 56% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rome, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rome
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.