Photo: Adam Moss from Highland Park, NJ, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Most of Rotterdam commutes out: there are 0.6 jobs for every working resident
8,403 jobs are based in Rotterdam for 15,246 working residents. Rotterdam grades A− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in ten stay in Rotterdam for work; outside it, Albany is the main destination (19%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Rotterdam apart on work
Commutes from Rotterdam 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 ↓
A lot of Rotterdam works one town over
35% of working residents work in a town that borders Rotterdam: Schenectady (14%), Colonie (14%) and Guilderland (4%). Next door ↓
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.
The figures behind Rotterdam’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rotterdam is better than 78% of U.S. towns, #180 of 758 in New York. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Rotterdam’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rotterdam could be anywhere from B+ to A.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rotterdam workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,227 commuters (the 15% 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 Rotterdam
On a workday 13,573 residents head out to work, 1,673 work right here, and 6,730 people come in from elsewhere.
About 24,000 people are in Rotterdam on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
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 Rotterdam’s residents
Where Rotterdam clocks in
19% of workers
14% of workers
14% 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 Rotterdam’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rotterdam, 2013 → 2023: 8,380 → 8,403. 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 Rotterdam’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Rotterdam
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 Rotterdam, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rotterdam is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #392 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 32.9% across New York.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 15,573 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 63% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 21% 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). 4.0% of Rotterdam households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Rotterdam’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,334 U.S. towns of 22,000 to 42,000, Rotterdam comes 494th on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 492 | Orchard Park NY | 29,804 | $110K | 7.2% | 4.4% | 14% | A− |
| 493 | Bainbridge Island WA | 24,691 | $172K | 3.5% | 2.8% | 26% | A− |
| 494 | Rotterdam NY | 31,065 | $86K | 7.0% | 3.0% | 11% | A− |
| 495 | Maryville TN | 32,442 | $82K | 6.7% | 3.0% | 26% | A− |
| 496 | Mint Hill NC | 29,476 | $101K | 8.4% | 4.1% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | 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 Rotterdam, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 35% of Rotterdam
The biggest share goes to Schenectady (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rotterdam workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rotterdam | – | A− | B+ | 23 min | $86,331 |
| Glenville | 3% | A− | B+ | 24 min | $98,423 |
| Schenectady | 14% | C− | A+ | 22 min | $58,399 |
| Princetown | under 2% | A | D− | 33 min | $98,438 |
| Guilderland | 4% | A | A− | 21 min | $112,273 |
| Colonie | 14% | A− | A− | 20 min | $101,676 |
| Florida | under 2% | B− | C | 26 min | $93,008 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rotterdam’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 Rotterdam: questions
What is the median household income in Rotterdam?
$86,331 (±$2,173) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rotterdam?
7.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rotterdam?
23 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rotterdam work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albany (19%, 15 mi), Colonie (14%, 12 mi), Schenectady (14%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rotterdam walkable?
Rotterdam is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rotterdam without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 21% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rotterdam, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rotterdam
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.