Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Thompson (5.7%) than in 71% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Thompson; the top destination outside it is New York City (13%, 78 miles). Thompson grades C− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Home is the office for 8% of workers, against 15% across New York.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Thompson, in a few figures
Thompson’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Thompson is New York City, 78 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (853) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Thompson is where the jobs are
Thompson has 10,588 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Thompson are quick
The average trip to work takes 25 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 61 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The four measures behind Thompson’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Thompson is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #646 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Thompson’s grade up (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (21.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Thompson could be anywhere from D to B−.
How many miles Thompson commutes
About 31% 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.
In and out of Thompson on a workday
On a workday 4,384 residents head out to work, 2,126 work right here, and 8,462 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Thompson on a workday afternoon, 24% more than live here.
1.6 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.
A commute of about 25 minutes in Thompson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thompson workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,964 commuters (the 8% 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.
Commuting in to Thompson: where workers come from
Where Thompson clocks in
13% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
10,588 jobs are based in Thompson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thompson, 2013 → 2023: 9,299 → 10,588. 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 Thompson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Thompson
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Thompson is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #213 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 8.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,567 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 35% 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). 14.8% of Thompson households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Thompson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Thompson is 1,776th of 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Victor NY | 16,422 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,774 | Augusta ME | 19,155 | $48K | 18.2% | 5.7% | 45% | C− |
| 1,775 | Adrian MI | 20,191 | $50K | 20.3% | 5.3% | 25% | C− |
| 1,776 | Thompson NY | 16,722 | $65K | 21.6% | 5.7% | 33% | C− |
| 1,777 | Jennings MO | 13,093 | $39K | 25.2% | 8.9% | 2% | C− |
| 1,778 | Danville KY | 17,736 | $53K | 17.4% | 6.6% | 35% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Thompson, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Work in the towns next to Thompson
The biggest share goes to Fallsburg (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Thompson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thompson | – | C− | A | 25 min | $65,021 |
| Bethel | 1% | C | C | 32 min | $67,048 |
| Fallsburg | 6% | D | B− | 22 min | $62,452 |
| Forestburgh | under 1% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Mongaup Valley | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Mamakating | under 1% | C+ | C | 34 min | $90,631 |
Same-state neighbors only. Forestburgh: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Mongaup Valley: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Thompson’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 Thompson: questions
What is the median household income in Thompson?
$65,021 (±$9,784) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thompson?
21.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thompson?
25 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thompson work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (13%, 78 mi), Fallsburg (6%, 7 mi), Wallkill (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thompson walkable?
Thompson is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thompson without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Thompson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thompson
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.