Photo: Doug Kerr from Upstate New York · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Roxbury have lower incomes than those in 77% of U.S. towns
7% of workers work from home, next to 15% for New York as a whole. 5.4% of residents live below the poverty line, against 14.0% across New York. The two grades for Roxbury are C for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Roxbury apart
Roxbury’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Roxbury is New York City, 118 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (61) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
37% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Roxbury 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 ↓
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 675 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Roxbury’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Roxbury is better than 26% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Roxbury’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Roxbury could be anywhere from D to B.
How far Roxbury’s workers travel
About 37% 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.
About 23 minutes each way for Roxbury’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roxbury workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 923 commuters (the 7% 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.
Who commutes out of Roxbury, and who commutes in
On a workday 557 residents head out to work, 118 work right here, and 371 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.
0.72 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.
9% of working residents work in New York City
Where Roxbury clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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 work there is in Roxbury: 489 jobs
489 jobs are based in Roxbury.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roxbury, 2013 → 2023: 368 → 489. 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 Roxbury’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Roxbury: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Roxbury is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 995 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). 9.5% of Roxbury households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Roxbury’s commuters take a bus or train.
Roxbury places 3,847th of 5,641 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| 8 | Village of the Branch NY | 1,764 | $174K | 1.5% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 9 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,845 | Walnut Township IN | 2,855 | $63K | 12.7% | 5.4% | 9% | C |
| 3,846 | Varick NY | 1,635 | $80K | 17.6% | 6.1% | 2% | C |
| 3,847 | Roxbury NY | 2,203 | $58K | 5.4% | 5.6% | 17% | C |
| 3,848 | Clifton Township PA | 1,522 | $57K | 13.2% | 8.0% | 1% | C |
| 3,849 | Carson WA | 2,318 | $69K | 8.5% | 8.6% | 10% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,641 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Roxbury, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
14% of Roxbury works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Middletown (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Roxbury workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roxbury | – | C | B | 23 min | $58,042 |
| Stamford | 6% | D | B+ | 29 min | $62,083 |
| Middletown | 8% | B− | C+ | 30 min | $78,021 |
| Prattsville | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Halcott | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Bovina | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Prattsville, Halcott and Bovina: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Roxbury’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 Roxbury: questions
What is the median household income in Roxbury?
$58,042 (±$7,036) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roxbury?
5.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roxbury?
23 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roxbury work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (9%, 118 mi), Middletown (8%, 12 mi), Stamford (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Roxbury walkable?
Roxbury is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Roxbury without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roxbury, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roxbury
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.