Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Syracuse are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns
28.8% of residents are in poverty (New York 14.0%). The two grades for Syracuse are C− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. About two in five work in Syracuse; the top destination outside it is DeWitt (10%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Syracuse, in brief
Commutes from Syracuse are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 115 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Syracuse is where the jobs are
Syracuse has 96,658 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The jobs in Syracuse pay better than its residents’ jobs
66% of the jobs based in Syracuse pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 51% of the jobs Syracuse residents hold. 77% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Syracuse. The jobs ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Syracuse
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Syracuse is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #654 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Syracuse’s grade up (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Syracuse stays C−.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Syracuse workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 53,578 commuters (the 12% 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.
In and out of Syracuse on a workday
On a workday 29,161 residents head out to work, 21,851 work right here, and 74,807 people come in from elsewhere.
About 191,000 people are in Syracuse on a workday afternoon, 32% more than live here.
1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Syracuse
96,658 jobs are based in Syracuse.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Syracuse, 2013 → 2023: 89,620 → 96,658. 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 Syracuse’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Syracuse: where workers come from
Where Syracuse clocks in
6% 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.
Syracuse’s commute, mile by mile
About 20% 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.
Syracuse is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Syracuse is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #49 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Syracuse near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 60,912 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 93% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 33.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 25.7% of Syracuse households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Syracuse’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Where Syracuse sits among U.S. towns of 101,000 to 196,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Smithtown NY | 116,847 | $153K | 4.2% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Amherst NY | 130,442 | $93K | 10.1% | 3.3% | 30% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 159 | Ramapo NY | 161,564 | $82K | 26.5% | 5.5% | 34% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 244 | Hartford CT | 121,981 | $46K | 26.3% | 10.7% | 27% | C− |
| 245 | Wayne Township IN | 111,761 | $49K | 23.2% | 8.1% | 27% | C− |
| 246 | Syracuse NY | 144,896 | $48K | 28.8% | 7.7% | 43% | C− |
| 247 | Dayton OH | 136,688 | $45K | 26.9% | 9.0% | 27% | C− |
| 248 | Las Cruces NM | 116,978 | $55K | 22.6% | 7.0% | 60% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 251 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Syracuse, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
18% of Syracuse works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Syracuse workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syracuse | – | C− | A+ | 18 min | $47,819 |
| Onondaga | 2% | A− | B | 21 min | $104,448 |
| Geddes | 2% | B+ | A− | 19 min | $76,839 |
| DeWitt | 10% | B+ | A | 18 min | $92,218 |
| Salina | 4% | B− | A− | 18 min | $72,474 |
| Solvay | under 2% | B− | A | 19 min | $61,166 |
| Lyncourt | under 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| East Syracuse | under 2% | B | A+ | 17 min | $62,143 |
| Westvale | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Nedrow | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Galeville | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lyncourt, Westvale, Nedrow and Galeville: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to DeWitt. Darker towns draw more of Syracuse’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 Syracuse: questions
What is the median household income in Syracuse?
$47,819 (±$2,145) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Syracuse?
28.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Syracuse?
18 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Syracuse work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are DeWitt (10%, 4 mi), Clay (6%, 10 mi), Salina (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Syracuse walkable?
Syracuse is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.3 out of 20, and 19% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Syracuse without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 26% of households have no car. 93% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Syracuse, from the people who make the trip.
More of Syracuse
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.