Earning a living in Spencer
Only 8% work in Spencer; the top destination outside it is Ithaca (15%, 14 miles). Working residents average 25 minutes each way, next to 33 for New York and 26 for the U.S. There are 426 jobs in Spencer, against 310 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Spencer apart
The trip to work from Spencer: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spencer workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 367 commuters (the 10% 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 many people are in Spencer by day
On a workday 286 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 402 people come in from elsewhere.
About 800 people are in Spencer on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.37 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.
Commuting out of Spencer: the destinations
Where Spencer clocks in
15% of workers
13% 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.
Spencer is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spencer, 2013 → 2023: 281 → 426. 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 Spencer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Spencer
About 17% 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.
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 Spencer: questions
What is the median household income in Spencer?
$51,765 (±$16,344) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spencer?
31.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spencer?
25 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spencer work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ithaca (15%, 14 mi), Ithaca (13%, 16 mi), Spencer (9%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Spencer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spencer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spencer
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.