Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Utica has higher unemployment (8.2%) than 89% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Utica is behind 85% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Utica C−; getting around on foot earns it A+. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 9.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 79.0 in New York City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Utica and work: the main findings
Why Utica gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Utica is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #678 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Utica’s grade up (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (27.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Utica could be anywhere from D to C−.
The daily trip from Utica: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Utica workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23,155 commuters (the 7% 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.
In and out of Utica on a workday
On a workday 14,557 residents head out to work, 7,477 work right here, and 20,905 people come in from elsewhere.
About 69,000 people are in Utica on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 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.
12% of working residents work in New Hartford
Where Utica clocks in
12% 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.
Jobs in Utica: what the 28,382 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Utica, 2013 → 2023: 32,015 → 28,382. 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 Utica’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Utica’s workers travel
About 22% 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 Utica, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Utica is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns, #87 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Utica 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 25,025 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 67% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 21.9% of Utica households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Utica’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Utica sits among U.S. towns of 44,000 to 85,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Perinton NY | 46,823 | $112K | 4.8% | 3.3% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 122 | Webster NY | 45,309 | $94K | 5.1% | 2.7% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Lancaster NY | 45,075 | $89K | 5.2% | 2.4% | 15% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 683 | Niagara Falls NY | 47,255 | $49K | 23.7% | 9.6% | 30% | C− |
| 684 | Wilkes-Barre PA | 44,523 | $49K | 23.1% | 8.5% | 18% | C− |
| 685 | Utica NY | 62,978 | $52K | 27.5% | 8.2% | 34% | C− |
| 686 | Valdosta GA | 56,186 | $46K | 26.1% | 5.7% | 51% | C− |
| 687 | Rocky Mount NC | 55,120 | $56K | 19.7% | 8.0% | 33% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 709 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Utica, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 21% of Utica
The biggest share goes to New Hartford (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Utica workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utica | – | C− | A+ | 20 min | $52,484 |
| New Hartford | 12% | B+ | B | 18 min | $81,173 |
| Marcy | 3% | A− | B | 22 min | $92,775 |
| Frankfort | under 2% | B | C+ | 28 min | $62,861 |
| Deerfield | under 2% | A | C+ | 21 min | $101,029 |
| New Hartford | under 2% | B+ | A | 15 min | $82,717 |
| Whitestown | 6% | B+ | B | 17 min | $80,168 |
| New York Mills | under 2% | B− | A | 23 min | $57,578 |
| Yorkville | under 2% | A− | A | 20 min | $72,969 |
| Schuyler | under 2% | C+ | D | 21 min | $65,469 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Utica’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 Utica: questions
What is the median household income in Utica?
$52,484 (±$3,196) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Utica?
27.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Utica?
20 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 Utica work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New Hartford (12%, 4 mi), Whitestown (6%, 6 mi), New York City (5%, 181 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Utica walkable?
Utica is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.8 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Utica without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. 67% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Utica, from the people who make the trip.
More of Utica
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.