Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Few U.S. towns have unemployment as high as Stephentown’s 18.8%
Stephentown grades C+ for jobs and income and C for walkability. 7% of workers have no commute at all, where New York as a whole has 15%. Only 6% work in Stephentown; the top destination outside it is Albany (12%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Stephentown
Stephentown is a place people come home to
There are 198 jobs based in Stephentown, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Stephentown has about 1,800 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Stephentown are quick
The average trip to work takes 28 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 38 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Stephentown’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Stephentown is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #459 of 758 in New York. The poverty rate holds Stephentown’s grade up (3.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Stephentown could be anywhere from C to A−.
Who leaves Stephentown for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,124 residents head out to work, 73 work right here, and 125 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Stephentown on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
0.17 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 2024, primary jobs.
The daily trip from Stephentown: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stephentown workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,238 commuters (the 7% 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.
The towns that employ Stephentown’s residents
Where Stephentown clocks in
12% of workers
8% 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.
Goods, not services: 40% of the jobs in Stephentown
198 jobs are based in Stephentown.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stephentown, 2014 → 2024: 190 → 198. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Stephentown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Stephentown works
About 18% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Stephentown, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Stephentown is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #621 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 3.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,335 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 1.6% of Stephentown households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Stephentown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,800, Stephentown ranks 2,690th of 5,131 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Old Brookville NY | 2,098 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 13 | Laurel Hollow NY | 1,949 | $250K | 3.5% | 2.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,688 | Bourg LA | 2,239 | $69K | 10.4% | 4.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,689 | Freedom NY | 2,196 | $74K | 7.0% | 3.3% | 9% | C+ |
| 2,690 | Stephentown NY | 2,782 | $89K | 3.7% | 18.8% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,691 | Green Creek Township OH | 3,448 | $69K | 17.4% | 2.5% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,692 | Sandusky Township OH | 3,562 | $83K | 23.3% | 3.8% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,131 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 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 Stephentown, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Work in the towns next to Stephentown
The biggest share goes to New Lebanon (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Stephentown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephentown | – | C+ | C | 28 min | $88,617 |
| Nassau | under 4% | A− | D | 28 min | $93,159 |
| New Lebanon | 4% | C | C+ | 26 min | $75,662 |
| East Nassau | under 4% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Berlin | 3% | B | C | 33 min | $80,313 |
Same-state neighbors only. East Nassau: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Stephentown’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 2024, 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 Stephentown: questions
What is the median household income in Stephentown?
$88,617 (±$12,193) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stephentown?
3.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stephentown?
28 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stephentown work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Albany (12%, 21 mi), Pittsfield (8%, 10 mi), Colonie (7%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Stephentown walkable?
Stephentown is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Stephentown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stephentown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stephentown
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.