Photo: LBM1948 · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Ulysses (8.1%) than in 88% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Ulysses itself; outside it, Ithaca draws the most (22%, 8 miles). Ulysses grades C for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Working residents average 26 minutes each way, next to 33 for New York and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ulysses at work: what stands out
A lot of Ulysses works one town over
28% of working residents work in a town that borders Ulysses: Ithaca (22%), Lansing (4%) and Covert (2%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Ulysses 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 ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Ulysses
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ulysses is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #545 of 758 in New York. The poverty rate holds Ulysses’ grade up (6.6%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ulysses could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The daily trip from Ulysses: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ulysses workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,888 commuters (the 15% 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.
Ulysses by day and by night
On a workday 1,728 residents head out to work, 230 work right here, and 946 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,900 people are in Ulysses on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.60 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where the trip to work from Ulysses ends
Where Ulysses clocks in
22% of workers
22% 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.
Most jobs in Ulysses are in services
1,176 jobs are based in Ulysses.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ulysses, 2013 → 2023: 1,282 → 1,176. 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 Ulysses’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Ulysses commutes
About 18% 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 Ulysses, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ulysses is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns, #500 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Ulysses 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 2,229 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.9% of Ulysses households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ulysses’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Ulysses is 2,641st of 3,867 U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | North Hills NY | 5,481 | $173K | 3.0% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,639 | Belpre Township OH | 3,815 | $79K | 9.8% | 5.1% | 4% | C |
| 2,640 | Dansville NY | 4,342 | $57K | 6.7% | 4.8% | 21% | C |
| 2,641 | Ulysses NY | 4,728 | $71K | 6.6% | 8.1% | 12% | C |
| 2,642 | Canaan Township PA | 3,701 | $73K | 12.5% | 1.6% | 5% | C |
| 2,643 | West Burlington IA | 3,358 | $49K | 23.8% | 1.8% | 21% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,867 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Ulysses, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 28% of Ulysses
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ulysses workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulysses | – | C | B− | 26 min | $71,400 |
| Lansing | 4% | C+ | B+ | 20 min | $86,342 |
| Enfield | under 2% | B | C+ | 31 min | $94,750 |
| Covert | 2% | C+ | C | 23 min | $75,688 |
| Hector | under 2% | C | D | 27 min | $79,904 |
| Ithaca | 22% | B | A− | 17 min | $105,978 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Ithaca. Darker towns draw more of Ulysses’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 Ulysses: questions
What is the median household income in Ulysses?
$71,400 (±$6,584) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ulysses?
6.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ulysses?
26 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ulysses work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ithaca (22%, 8 mi), Ithaca (22%, 8 mi), Lansing (4%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ulysses walkable?
Ulysses is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ulysses without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ulysses, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ulysses
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.