Photo: Dclemens1971 · CC BY 4.0About two in five of Speculator’s working residents commute to Lake Pleasant
Employers in Speculator report 162 jobs, against 149 working residents. About one in seven work in Speculator itself; outside it, Lake Pleasant draws the most (40%, 3 miles). Commuters spend 12 minutes getting to work on average, 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
Who leaves Speculator for work, and who comes in
On a workday 125 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 138 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.09 per resident).
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 Speculator’s working residents head each day
Where Speculator clocks in
40% of workers
9% 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.
Jobs in Speculator: what the 162 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Speculator, 2013 → 2023: 268 → 162. 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 Speculator’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 12 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Speculator workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 127 commuters (the 19% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Speculator
About 34% 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.
The towns next door employ 60% of Speculator
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Speculator workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speculator | – | — | — | 12 min | $63,864 |
| Lake Pleasant | 40% | — | — | 13 min | — |
| Wells | 9% | — | — | 43 min | — |
| Indian Lake | under 2% | C | B | 24 min | $62,824 |
| Arietta | 11% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lake Pleasant, Wells and Arietta: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lake Pleasant. Darker towns draw more of Speculator’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 Speculator: questions
What is the median household income in Speculator?
$63,864 (±$5,568) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Speculator?
25.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Speculator?
12 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Speculator work?
16% work in town.
Can you get around Speculator without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Speculator, from the people who make the trip.
More of Speculator
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.