Photo: Mitchazenia · CC BY-SA 4.0Fewer people are out of work in Wales (1.2%) than in 93% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers, where New York as a whole has 15%. Wales grades A for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 5% stay in Wales for work; outside it, Buffalo is the main destination (19%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Wales stands out on work
Commutes from Wales 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 ↓
Wales makes and builds things
44% of the jobs based in Wales are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Wales residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Wales is a place people come home to
There are 383 jobs based in Wales, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Wales has about 2,000 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
The figures behind Wales’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wales is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #99 of 758 in New York. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wales could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Getting to work from Wales takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wales workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,413 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.
Factories, building and farms: 44% of the jobs in Wales
383 jobs are based in Wales.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wales, 2013 → 2023: 340 → 383. 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 Wales’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Wales, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,339 residents head out to work, 65 work right here, and 318 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Wales on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.27 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.
Commuting out of Wales: the destinations
Where Wales clocks in
19% of workers
11% of workers
8% 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.
The distance from Wales to work
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 Wales: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wales is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns, #672 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 4.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,522 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). 4.1% of Wales households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wales’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Wales is 523rd among 4,771 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | East Williston NY | 2,616 | $215K | 2.3% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 10 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Great Neck Estates NY | 3,139 | $238K | 5.7% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 521 | North Muskegon MI | 4,079 | $105K | 5.0% | 2.2% | 5% | A |
| 522 | Brimfield MA | 3,739 | $111K | 3.6% | 2.1% | 8% | A |
| 523 | Wales NY | 3,019 | $89K | 4.3% | 1.2% | 5% | A |
| 524 | Linn WI | 2,707 | $99K | 5.7% | 1.3% | 3% | A |
| 525 | Union Township OH | 2,986 | $89K | 1.9% | 0.0% | 19% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Wales, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Bordering towns draw 11% of Wales’ workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wales workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wales | – | A | C− | 25 min | $88,590 |
| Aurora | 11% | A− | A− | 24 min | $102,065 |
| Holland | under 3% | B− | B | 29 min | $66,198 |
| Marilla | under 3% | A | D | 28 min | $92,787 |
| Sheldon | under 3% | C | B− | 33 min | $71,214 |
| Bennington | under 3% | B+ | D− | 33 min | $89,050 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Aurora. Darker towns draw more of Wales’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 Wales: questions
What is the median household income in Wales?
$88,590 (±$18,770) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wales?
4.3%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wales?
25 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wales work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Buffalo (19%, 20 mi), Aurora (11%, 6 mi), Amherst (8%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wales walkable?
Wales is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wales without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wales, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wales
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.