Photo: Brandon Peterman (Zyrshnikashnu at en.wikipedia) · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Tonawanda have lower incomes than those in 77% of U.S. towns
Tonawanda grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. The poverty rate is 13.8%; New York has 14.0%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 12.2 in Buffalo.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Tonawanda in brief
Most Tonawanda residents work close to home
72% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Commutes from Tonawanda are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Tonawanda and Buffalo trade workers both ways
Buffalo is the top workplace for Tonawanda residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Tonawanda come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Where Tonawanda’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Tonawanda is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #519 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Tonawanda’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($58,326, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tonawanda could be anywhere from C− to B.
Tonawanda’s commute, mile by mile
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.
About 23 minutes each way for Tonawanda’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tonawanda workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,922 commuters (the 16% 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.
20% of working residents work in Buffalo
Where Tonawanda clocks in
20% of workers
18% of workers
11% 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.
Who works in Tonawanda, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 6,128 residents head out to work, 647 work right here, and 5,070 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.84 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.
Goods, not services: 33% of the jobs in Tonawanda
5,717 jobs are based in Tonawanda.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tonawanda, 2013 → 2023: 5,744 → 5,717. 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 Tonawanda’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Tonawanda is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Tonawanda is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #302 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 32.9% across New York.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,085 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 65% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 36% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 12.1% of Tonawanda households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Tonawanda’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,722nd of 2,362: where Tonawanda ranks among U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,720 | Smyrna DE | 13,340 | $67K | 12.9% | 5.6% | 13% | C+ |
| 1,721 | Scottsbluff NE | 14,259 | $56K | 15.4% | 2.6% | 51% | C+ |
| 1,722 | Tonawanda NY | 14,848 | $58K | 13.8% | 6.2% | 10% | C+ |
| 1,723 | Jasper AL | 14,585 | $66K | 15.9% | 3.5% | 28% | C+ |
| 1,724 | Nameoki Township IL | 11,971 | $65K | 17.3% | 6.7% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | 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 Tonawanda, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Tonawanda and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to North Tonawanda (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tonawanda workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonawanda | – | C+ | A− | 23 min | $58,326 |
| Tonawanda Town | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| North Tonawanda | 4% | B− | A− | 20 min | $66,961 |
| Grand Island | 2% | A | C+ | 19 min | $115,991 |
Same-state neighbors only. Tonawanda Town: 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 Tonawanda’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 Tonawanda: questions
What is the median household income in Tonawanda?
$58,326 (±$8,034) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tonawanda?
13.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tonawanda?
23 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tonawanda work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Buffalo (20%, 8 mi), Amherst (18%, 6 mi), Tonawanda (11%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tonawanda walkable?
Tonawanda is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tonawanda without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 36% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Tonawanda, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tonawanda
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.