Photo: Doug Kerr from now in Binghamton, NY · CC BY-SA 2.0Waterloo has higher unemployment (7.5%) than 86% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 22 minutes each way (New York 33, U.S. 26). Jobs and income earn Waterloo C; getting around on foot earns it B−. About one in seven work in Waterloo itself; outside it, Seneca Falls draws the most (12%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Waterloo, in brief
Waterloo trades workers with the towns around it
Waterloo has about as many jobs (2,966) as working residents (2,881), but they are mostly different people: 2,412 residents leave for work each day while 2,497 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Waterloo are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Waterloo are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
40% of the jobs in Waterloo are in trade, transport and utilities, against 19% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
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’s behind Waterloo’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waterloo is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #610 of 758 in New York. The poverty rate holds Waterloo’s grade up (10.6%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waterloo could be anywhere from D to B−.
The daily commute in and out of Waterloo
On a workday 2,412 residents head out to work, 469 work right here, and 2,497 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.03 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.
Commuting from Waterloo: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waterloo workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,774 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.
The kinds of work in Waterloo
2,966 jobs are based in Waterloo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waterloo, 2013 → 2023: 2,573 → 2,966. 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 Waterloo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Waterloo goes to work
Where Waterloo clocks in
12% of workers
11% of workers
4% 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.
How many miles Waterloo 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.
Waterloo is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waterloo is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #537 of 758 in New York. Both inputs place Waterloo 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 3,097 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). 8.9% of Waterloo households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waterloo’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Waterloo is 2,516th of 3,205 U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,700
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,514 | Maine NY | 5,001 | $69K | 11.6% | 7.6% | 5% | C |
| 2,515 | Mayfair CA | 5,044 | $62K | 18.9% | 14.7% | 1% | C |
| 2,516 | Waterloo NY | 7,213 | $63K | 10.6% | 7.5% | 16% | C |
| 2,517 | Oxford PA | 5,887 | $68K | 23.7% | 5.0% | 7% | C |
| 2,518 | Pipe Creek Township IN | 6,676 | $61K | 11.3% | 6.1% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,205 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Waterloo, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Waterloo and its neighbors: 15% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waterloo workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterloo | – | C | B− | 22 min | $63,226 |
| Fayette | 3% | B | B− | 21 min | $77,875 |
| Junius | under 3% | C+ | C+ | 19 min | $76,750 |
| Seneca Falls | 12% | C | B+ | 17 min | $62,487 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Seneca Falls. Darker towns draw more of Waterloo’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 Waterloo: questions
What is the median household income in Waterloo?
$63,226 (±$10,813) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waterloo?
10.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waterloo?
22 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 Waterloo work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seneca Falls (12%, 6 mi), Geneva (11%, 5 mi), Auburn (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waterloo walkable?
Waterloo is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waterloo without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waterloo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waterloo
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.