Most of Seward commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Hardly any stay in Seward for work; outside it, Cobleskill is the main destination (14%, 7 miles). 27 jobs are based in Seward for 527 working residents. The average commute takes 37 minutes each way, next to 33 for New York and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Seward and work: the main findings
Seward is a place people come home to
There are 27 jobs based in Seward, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Seward has about 1,100 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Seward works one town over
25% of working residents work in a town that borders Seward: Cobleskill (14%), Sharon (9%) and Richmondville (2%). 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; with 527 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Seward’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Seward is better than 25% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Seward’s grade up ($86,786, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (5.4%) is left out: Seward’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Seward could be anywhere from D to B−.
Seward on a workday afternoon
On a workday 523 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 23 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Seward on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
Where Seward’s working residents head each day
Where Seward clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
In Seward, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Seward, 2013 → 2023: 136 → 27. 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 Seward’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 37 minutes to work from Seward
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Seward workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 783 commuters (the 13% 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 far it is to work from Seward
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.
Few in Seward walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Seward is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 3.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 901 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). 7.0% of Seward households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Seward’s commuters take a bus or train.
Seward places 3,703rd of 5,794 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 4 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 5 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,701 | Eustace TX | 1,143 | $68K | 12.9% | 0.8% | 13% | C |
| 3,702 | Cedar Creek Township MI | 1,864 | $67K | 9.8% | 8.2% | 3% | C |
| 3,703 | Seward NY | 1,588 | $87K | 16.4% | 5.4% | 1% | C |
| 3,704 | White Township PA | 1,290 | $56K | 27.5% | 1.8% | 1% | C |
| 3,705 | Springville WI | 1,305 | $63K | 9.7% | 3.2% | 3% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Seward, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 25% of Seward
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Seward workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seward | – | C | C+ | 37 min | $86,786 |
| Sharon | 9% | C− | C+ | 30 min | $68,095 |
| Richmondville | 2% | C− | C+ | 29 min | $51,046 |
| Roseboom | under 3% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Decatur | under 3% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Cobleskill | 14% | D | A | 28 min | $54,706 |
Same-state neighbors only. Roseboom and Decatur: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cobleskill. Darker towns draw more of Seward’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 Seward: questions
What is the median household income in Seward?
$86,786 (±$19,516) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Seward?
16.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Seward?
37 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Seward work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cobleskill (14%, 7 mi), Sharon (9%, 5 mi), New York City (7%, 145 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Seward walkable?
Seward is more walkable than 42% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 3.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Seward without a car?
7% 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 Seward, from the people who make the trip.
More of Seward
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.