Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0At 7.4%, unemployment in Wappingers Falls is higher than in 85% of U.S. towns
Only 7% work in Wappingers Falls; the top destination outside it is New York City (16%, 65 miles). Wappingers Falls grades B− for jobs and income and A for walkability. The average commute takes 24 minutes each way, where New York has 33 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Wappingers Falls apart
Wappingers Falls’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Wappingers Falls is New York City, 65 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (411) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Wappingers Falls are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 69 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Wappingers Falls
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wappingers Falls is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #382 of 758 in New York. The poverty rate holds Wappingers Falls’ grade up (3.8%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wappingers Falls could be anywhere from C to A.
Miles to work from Wappingers Falls
About 27% 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.
Commuting from Wappingers Falls: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wappingers Falls workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,347 commuters (the 10% 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.
A workday in Wappingers Falls: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,433 residents head out to work, 181 work right here, and 3,301 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Wappingers Falls on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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 towns that employ Wappingers Falls’ residents
Where Wappingers Falls clocks in
16% of workers
11% of workers
11% 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.
In Wappingers Falls, services account for most jobs
3,482 jobs are based in Wappingers Falls.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wappingers Falls, 2013 → 2023: 2,678 → 3,482. 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 Wappingers Falls’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Wappingers Falls is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wappingers Falls is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #191 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Wappingers Falls 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 2,620 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 39% 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). 6.3% of Wappingers Falls households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Wappingers Falls’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,200, Wappingers Falls ranks 1,752nd of 3,444 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Lawrence NY | 6,847 | $170K | 3.5% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Irvington NY | 6,533 | $173K | 1.6% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| 16 | Kings Point NY | 5,710 | $211K | 0.9% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,750 | Richland Township OH | 5,771 | $83K | 3.6% | 6.1% | 19% | B− |
| 1,751 | Westwood KY | 4,473 | $74K | 9.6% | 4.0% | 3% | B− |
| 1,752 | Wappingers Falls NY | 6,048 | $65K | 3.8% | 7.4% | 7% | B− |
| 1,753 | Brownville NY | 5,698 | $88K | 10.3% | 2.7% | 8% | B− |
| 1,754 | Washington Township PA | 4,364 | $94K | 5.1% | 8.3% | 9% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,444 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Wappingers Falls, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns around Wappingers Falls
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wappingers Falls workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wappingers Falls | – | B− | A | 24 min | $65,040 |
| New Hamburg | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Myers Corner | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. New Hamburg and Myers Corner: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wappingers Falls’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 Wappingers Falls: questions
What is the median household income in Wappingers Falls?
$65,040 (±$29,226) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wappingers Falls?
3.8%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wappingers Falls?
24 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wappingers Falls work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are New York City (16%, 65 mi), Poughkeepsie (11%, 5 mi), Wappinger (11%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wappingers Falls walkable?
Wappingers Falls is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wappingers Falls without a car?
3% 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 Wappingers Falls, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wappingers Falls
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.