Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Romulus at work: jobs, income and the commute
Only 6% work in Romulus; the top destination outside it is Geneva (6%, 13 miles). Romulus grades C− for jobs and income and D for walkability. The trip to work takes 23 minutes on average (New York 33, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Romulus, in a few figures
Commutes from Romulus are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
The jobs in Romulus pay better than its residents’ jobs
73% of the jobs based in Romulus pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 55% of the jobs Romulus residents hold. 95% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Romulus. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Romulus is services
89% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 7% 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; with 837 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Romulus
On income, poverty and job access, Romulus is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #692 of 758 in New York. Household income holds Romulus’ grade up ($69,447, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.0%) is left out: Romulus’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Romulus could be anywhere from D to C.
Getting to work from Romulus takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Romulus workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 723 commuters (the 10% 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 health care, schools and offices in Romulus
1,000 jobs are based in Romulus.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Romulus, 2013 → 2023: 1,114 → 1,000. 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 Romulus’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Romulus for work, and who comes in
On a workday 788 residents head out to work, 49 work right here, and 951 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 (1.19 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.
Out of Romulus to work: where people go
Where Romulus clocks in
6% of workers
6% 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.
How far Romulus’ workers travel
About 28% 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.
Driving is how Romulus gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Romulus is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns, #715 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Romulus 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 800 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.2% of Romulus households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Romulus’ commuters take a bus or train.
3,646th of 4,269: where Romulus ranks among U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 9 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Great Neck Estates NY | 3,139 | $238K | 5.7% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,644 | Norton VA | 3,477 | $41K | 26.3% | 3.8% | 31% | C− |
| 3,645 | Annsville NY | 2,605 | $67K | 15.0% | 7.0% | 3% | C− |
| 3,646 | Romulus NY | 3,358 | $69K | 18.6% | 2.0% | 6% | C− |
| 3,647 | Bunnell FL | 4,298 | $55K | 19.8% | 4.8% | 10% | D |
| 3,648 | Beaver Dam KY | 3,537 | $54K | 11.2% | 12.5% | 9% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,269 | 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 Romulus, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Around Romulus: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Ovid (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Romulus workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romulus | – | C− | D | 23 min | $69,447 |
| Varick | under 3% | C | B− | 23 min | $80,250 |
| Ovid | 2% | D | B− | 31 min | $63,594 |
| Ledyard | under 3% | C | B+ | 20 min | $86,731 |
| Torrey | under 3% | C+ | B− | 26 min | $95,500 |
| Benton | under 3% | C+ | B− | 23 min | $74,767 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Romulus’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 Romulus: questions
What is the median household income in Romulus?
$69,447 (±$5,754) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Romulus?
18.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Romulus?
23 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Romulus work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Geneva (6%, 13 mi), New York City (6%, 206 mi), Waterloo (6%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Romulus walkable?
Romulus is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Romulus without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Romulus, from the people who make the trip.
More of Romulus
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.