How Ulster works: jobs, income and commuting
The trip to work takes 21 minutes on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. For jobs and income Ulster is better than 48% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (B−). About one in seven stay in Ulster for work; outside it, Kingston is the main destination (22%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Ulster apart on work
Commutes from Ulster are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Ulster and Kingston trade workers both ways
Kingston is the top workplace for Ulster residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Ulster come from (13% 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Ulster
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Ulster’s grade. It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ulster could be anywhere from C to B+.
The daily trip from Ulster: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ulster workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,048 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.
The towns that employ Ulster’s residents
Where Ulster clocks in
22% of workers
12% of workers
4% 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.
Ulster fills up on a workday
On a workday 4,877 residents head out to work, 821 work right here, and 6,301 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Ulster on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 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.
The kinds of work in Ulster
7,122 jobs are based in Ulster.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ulster, 2013 → 2023: 9,415 → 7,122. 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 Ulster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Ulster commutes less than 11 miles
About 26% 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.
Few in Ulster walk, bike or ride to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,754 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). 5.5% of Ulster households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Ulster’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,495th of 2,354: where Ulster ranks among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 90 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,493 | Woodbury NJ | 10,130 | $77K | 13.2% | 7.9% | 6% | B− |
| 1,494 | Robinson Township IL | 9,399 | $78K | 7.9% | 3.9% | 47% | B− |
| 1,495 | Ulster NY | 12,646 | $80K | 11.6% | 4.6% | 14% | B− |
| 1,496 | Crestwood IL | 10,529 | $76K | 13.0% | 8.2% | 5% | B− |
| 1,497 | Freehold NJ | 12,562 | $86K | 14.3% | 8.2% | 7% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | 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 Ulster, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 29% of Ulster
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ulster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulster | – | B− | B− | 21 min | $79,769 |
| Kingston | 22% | C | A− | 23 min | $68,186 |
| Kingston | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Esopus | under 2% | B− | B− | 27 min | $88,837 |
| Saugerties | 4% | B− | B+ | 23 min | $78,271 |
| Hurley | under 2% | B+ | B− | 23 min | $101,099 |
| Red Hook | 1% | B+ | A− | 26 min | $112,363 |
| Rhinebeck | 2% | B− | A | 29 min | $93,284 |
Same-state neighbors only. Kingston: the same community as the city of that name, graded once. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Kingston. Darker towns draw more of Ulster’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 Ulster: questions
What is the median household income in Ulster?
$79,769 (±$7,239) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ulster?
11.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ulster?
21 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 Ulster work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kingston (22%, 3 mi), New York City (12%, 90 mi), Saugerties (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ulster walkable?
Ulster is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ulster without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ulster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ulster
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.