New York State Barge Canal · Photo: Bill Blevins · CC BY 2.0At 3.2%, unemployment in Van Buren is lower than in 66% of U.S. towns
Only 6% work in Van Buren; the top destination outside it is Syracuse (24%, 12 miles). The two grades for Van Buren are B+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. Commuters spend 25 minutes getting to work on average; New York averages 33, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Van Buren, in brief
Stores, warehouses and trucking
56% of the jobs in Van Buren are in trade, transport and utilities, against 23% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Van Buren are quick
The average trip to work takes 25 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 61 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Van Buren
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Van Buren is better than 67% of U.S. towns, #277 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Van Buren’s grade up (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($73,779, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Van Buren could be anywhere from B− to A.
What Van Buren’s employers do
4,266 jobs are based in Van Buren.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Van Buren, 2013 → 2023: 3,431 → 4,266. 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 Van Buren’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Van Buren
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Van Buren workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,963 commuters (the 13% 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 daily flow of workers through Van Buren
On a workday 5,913 residents head out to work, 377 work right here, and 3,889 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Van Buren on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.68 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 Van Buren ends
Where Van Buren clocks in
24% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Van Buren
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.
Getting around Van Buren: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Van Buren is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #442 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 6,876 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 81% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 20% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 65% 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). 8.7% of Van Buren households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Van Buren’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,022nd of 2,227: where Van Buren ranks among U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | East Rockaway NY | 10,096 | $125K | 2.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | North Castle NY | 12,360 | $208K | 3.8% | 3.1% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,020 | Long Creek Township IL | 10,139 | $85K | 6.0% | 4.1% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,021 | Fall Creek Township IN | 16,225 | $91K | 7.5% | 5.1% | 13% | B+ |
| 1,022 | Van Buren NY | 14,038 | $74K | 8.5% | 3.2% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,023 | Gages Lake IL | 10,819 | $103K | 7.0% | 9.0% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,024 | Commerce CA | 11,688 | $77K | 12.4% | 3.9% | 12% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | 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 Van Buren, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
13% of Van Buren works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Lysander (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Van Buren’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 Van Buren: questions
What is the median household income in Van Buren?
$73,779 (±$8,472) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Van Buren?
8.5%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Van Buren?
25 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Van Buren work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Syracuse (24%, 12 mi), Lysander (8%, 4 mi), DeWitt (8%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Van Buren walkable?
Van Buren is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Van Buren without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 20% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Van Buren, from the people who make the trip.
More of Van Buren
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.