Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Scarsdale are among the highest of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Scarsdale is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Poverty touches 2.9% of residents, where New York as a whole has 14.0%. The two grades for Scarsdale are A+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Scarsdale
Home offices are common in Scarsdale
36% of Scarsdale workers work from home, against 15% across New York. Time on the road ↓
More than half of Scarsdale works in New York City
3,230 working residents, 53%, have their main job in New York City, 24 miles away. That’s 13 times as many as work in Scarsdale itself. The commute map ↓
Scarsdale workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 43 minutes each way, against 33 across New York. Over a year that’s about 330 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Four in five Scarsdale workers earn over $40,000 a year
80% of Scarsdale’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Scarsdale is services
89% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 2% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Scarsdale’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Scarsdale is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #32 of 758 in New York. Household income holds Scarsdale’s grade up ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
The Census reports Scarsdale’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Scarsdale could be anywhere from A to A+.
Commuting from Scarsdale: about 43 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Scarsdale workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,016 commuters (the 36% 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.
53% of working residents work in New York City
Where Scarsdale clocks in
53% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Scarsdale
3,394 jobs are based in Scarsdale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Scarsdale, 2014 → 2024: 4,195 → 3,394. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Scarsdale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Scarsdale for work, and who comes in
On a workday 5,811 residents head out to work, 250 work right here, and 3,144 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Scarsdale on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.56 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 2024, primary jobs.
Short hops and long hauls from Scarsdale
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Scarsdale is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,886 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 95% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 15.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% 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). 1.0% of Scarsdale households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 46% of Scarsdale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Scarsdale is 135th of 1,915 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 25,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | Garden City NY | 23,043 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Victor NY | 16,422 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 133 | Murphy TX | 20,985 | $176K | 3.0% | 4.2% | 3% | A+ |
| 134 | Pewaukee WI | 16,375 | $108K | 3.7% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| 135 | Scarsdale NY | 18,194 | $250K | 2.9% | 4.5% | 4% | A+ |
| 136 | Harrisburg NC | 20,742 | $148K | 3.7% | 3.0% | 5% | A+ |
| 137 | Harrison WI | 14,492 | $122K | 2.2% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,915 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Scarsdale, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
12% of Scarsdale works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to White Plains (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Scarsdale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarsdale | – | A+ | A+ | 43 min | $250,000+ |
| White Plains | 3% | B+ | A+ | 27 min | $110,763 |
| New Rochelle | 1% | B+ | A+ | 33 min | $109,167 |
| Greenburgh | 3% | A | A+ | 34 min | $152,256 |
| Greenville | under 2% | — | — | 45 min | — |
| Hartsdale | under 2% | — | — | 37 min | — |
| Mamaroneck | under 2% | A− | A+ | 37 min | $163,781 |
| Eastchester | 2% | A+ | A+ | 36 min | $155,726 |
| Harrison | 3% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Harrison | under 2% | A | A+ | 29 min | $164,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Greenville and Hartsdale: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Harrison: the same community as the village of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Scarsdale’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 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Scarsdale: questions
What is the median household income in Scarsdale?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Scarsdale?
2.9%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Scarsdale?
43 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 36% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Scarsdale work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (53%, 24 mi), Greenburgh (3%, 4 mi), White Plains (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Scarsdale walkable?
Scarsdale is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.5 out of 20, and 51% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Scarsdale without a car?
46% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 33% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Scarsdale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Scarsdale
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.