Most of Sparta commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
5% of workers have no commute at all (New York 15%). Employers in Sparta report 72 jobs; 701 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Sparta is better than 45% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (D).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Sparta
Sparta is a place people come home to
There are 72 jobs based in Sparta, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sparta has about 950 people in it, 40% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Sparta and North Dansville trade workers both ways
North Dansville is the top workplace for Sparta residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Sparta come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 701 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Sparta gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Household income holds Sparta’s grade up ($87,663, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 17% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (1.4%) is left out: Sparta’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Sparta could be anywhere from C to B.
The daily flow of workers through Sparta
On a workday 699 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 70 people come in from elsewhere.
About 950 people are in Sparta on a workday afternoon, 40% 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.
19% of working residents work in North Dansville
Where Sparta clocks in
7% of workers
4% 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.
Goods jobs make up 69% of work in Sparta
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sparta, 2013 → 2023: 77 → 72. 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 Sparta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 30 minutes in Sparta
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sparta workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 669 commuters (the 5% 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 Sparta’s workers travel
About 22% 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.
Driving is how Sparta gets around
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.2% 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 701 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 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 4.3% of Sparta households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Sparta’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sparta is 2,419th of 5,794 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,417 | Athens IL | 1,883 | $81K | 9.5% | 5.7% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,418 | Blawnox PA | 1,384 | $60K | 16.7% | 2.5% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,419 | Sparta NY | 1,577 | $88K | 8.8% | 1.4% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,420 | Brown Township OH | 1,571 | $75K | 21.2% | 0.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,421 | Edgard LA | 1,482 | $69K | 11.2% | 10.3% | 2% | 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 Sparta, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Next door is work for 19% of Sparta
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sparta workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparta | – | C+ | D | 30 min | $87,663 |
| West Sparta | under 3% | C | C− | 29 min | $72,917 |
| Groveland | under 3% | C | C | 28 min | $81,691 |
| Springwater | under 3% | B | D− | 31 min | $84,670 |
| North Dansville | 19% | C+ | A | 26 min | $57,265 |
| Conesus | under 3% | B− | C | 31 min | $80,341 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to North Dansville. Darker towns draw more of Sparta’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 Sparta: questions
What is the median household income in Sparta?
$87,663 (±$6,314) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sparta?
8.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sparta?
30 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sparta work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are North Dansville (19%, 5 mi), Rochester (7%, 38 mi), Geneseo (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sparta walkable?
Sparta is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sparta without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sparta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sparta
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.