With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Thurston works elsewhere
For jobs and income Thurston is better than 52% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (D). There are 40 jobs in Thurston, against 462 working residents. 4% of workers have no commute at all, next to 15% for New York as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Thurston: the gist
Thurston is a place people come home to
There are 40 jobs based in Thurston, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Thurston has about 810 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Thurston are quick
The average trip to work takes 26 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Thurston workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 15% across New York. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 462 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Thurston
The poverty rate holds Thurston’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.6%) is left out: Thurston’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Thurston could be anywhere from C to B+.
In and out of Thurston on a workday
On a workday 456 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 34 people come in from elsewhere.
About 810 people are in Thurston on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
About 26 minutes each way, quicker than most of New York
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Thurston workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 518 commuters (the 4% 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.
12% of working residents work in Bath
Where Thurston clocks in
12% of workers
10% of workers
8% 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.
Thurston makes things: 53% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Thurston, 2013 → 2023: 71 → 40. 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 Thurston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Thurston
About 24% 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.
For most of Thurston, work means a drive
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 0.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 2.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 537 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). 1.5% of Thurston households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Thurston’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,548th of 4,866: where Thurston ranks among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 4 | Saddle Rock NY | 1,008 | $176K | 0.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,546 | Nutter Fort WV | 1,451 | $68K | 8.4% | 3.5% | 3% | B− |
| 1,547 | Lee Township MI | 1,057 | $85K | 11.1% | 9.2% | 1% | B− |
| 1,548 | Thurston NY | 1,228 | $73K | 3.4% | 3.6% | 1% | B− |
| 1,549 | Lake Waynoka OH | 1,266 | $82K | 4.2% | 5.6% | 1% | B− |
| 1,550 | Elk Rapids MI | 1,610 | $71K | 3.7% | 1.3% | 16% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Thurston, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
How Thurston compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Addison. Darker towns draw more of Thurston’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 Thurston: questions
What is the median household income in Thurston?
$73,409 (±$13,582) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Thurston?
3.4%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Thurston?
26 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Thurston work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bath (12%, 7 mi), Corning (10%, 13 mi), Erwin (8%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Thurston walkable?
Thurston is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 2.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Thurston without a car?
1% 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 Thurston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Thurston
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.