Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Seneca has lower unemployment (0.8%) than 96% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 27 minutes on average, next to 33 for New York and 26 for the U.S. Jobs and income earn Seneca A−; getting around on foot earns it C+. Only 7% stay in Seneca for work; outside it, Geneva is the main destination (10%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Seneca: the figures worth knowing
Stores, warehouses and trucking
48% of the jobs in Seneca are in trade, transport and utilities, against 19% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
A longer commute than the towns next door
Seneca averages 27 minutes each way, more than any bordering town (17 to 23 minutes). Next door ↓
Commutes from Seneca are quick
The average trip to work takes 27 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 46 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.
The figures behind Seneca’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Seneca is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #204 of 758 in New York. Unemployment holds Seneca’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Seneca could be anywhere from B to A.
Goods, not services: 32% of the jobs in Seneca
804 jobs are based in Seneca.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Seneca, 2013 → 2023: 754 → 804. 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 Seneca’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Seneca, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Seneca workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,230 commuters (the 11% 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.
Seneca by day and by night
On a workday 1,067 residents head out to work, 85 work right here, and 719 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Seneca on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.70 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.
The towns that employ Seneca’s residents
Where Seneca clocks in
10% of workers
6% 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.
The commute from Seneca, by distance
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 Seneca, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Seneca is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns, #567 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 4.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,380 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). 7.8% of Seneca households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Seneca’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Seneca ranks: 995th of 5,083 U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 10 | Laurel Hollow NY | 1,949 | $250K | 3.5% | 2.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 993 | Virginia Gardens FL | 2,307 | $70K | 6.4% | 3.7% | 2% | A− |
| 994 | Chapel Hill TN | 1,905 | $75K | 4.1% | 2.0% | 4% | A− |
| 995 | Seneca NY | 2,591 | $91K | 6.2% | 0.8% | 7% | A− |
| 996 | Hepburn Township PA | 2,534 | $81K | 4.4% | 1.9% | 3% | A− |
| 997 | Middlesex VT | 1,842 | $110K | 3.8% | 3.0% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | 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 Seneca, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns around Seneca
The biggest share goes to Hopewell (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Seneca workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seneca | – | A− | C+ | 27 min | $90,658 |
| Geneva | under 3% | B− | D | 18 min | $82,589 |
| Gorham | 3% | C+ | C | 21 min | $64,874 |
| Benton | under 3% | C+ | B− | 23 min | $74,767 |
| Phelps | under 3% | B | C+ | 21 min | $80,262 |
| Hopewell | 5% | B− | B+ | 17 min | $84,358 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Seneca’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 Seneca: questions
What is the median household income in Seneca?
$90,658 (±$21,034) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Seneca?
6.2%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Seneca?
27 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Seneca work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Geneva (10%, 5 mi), Rochester (6%, 36 mi), Canandaigua (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Seneca walkable?
Seneca is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Seneca without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Seneca, from the people who make the trip.
More of Seneca
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.