Trinity Episcopal Church and Parish House · Photo: Stephen Schweitzer · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Watertown are lower than in 86% of U.S. towns
For 4% of workers, the job is at home, against 15% across New York. Below the poverty line: 20.1% of residents, next to 14.0% across New York. Watertown grades C− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Watertown stands out on work
Commutes from Watertown are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 130 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
Watertown is where the jobs are
Watertown has 12,868 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. 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.
Inside Watertown’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Watertown is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #655 of 758 in New York. Job access by car holds Watertown’s grade up (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($51,753, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Watertown could be anywhere from D to C.
About 16 minutes each way for Watertown’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Watertown workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,130 commuters (the 5% 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.
How a workday changes Watertown
On a workday 4,255 residents head out to work, 3,358 work right here, and 9,510 people come in from elsewhere.
About 29,000 people are in Watertown on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 Watertown’s workers come from
Where Watertown clocks in
3% 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.
Inside Watertown’s 12,868 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Watertown, 2013 → 2023: 15,074 → 12,868. 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 Watertown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Watertown goes to work
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Watertown
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,659 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). 19.8% of Watertown households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Watertown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Watertown sits among U.S. towns of 16,000 to 32,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Floral Park NY | 16,105 | $150K | 3.0% | 3.1% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Garden City NY | 23,043 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Victor NY | 16,422 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,632 | Junction City KS | 22,583 | $61K | 17.5% | 6.2% | 38% | C− |
| 1,633 | Pittsburg KS | 20,569 | $43K | 29.6% | 4.0% | 49% | C− |
| 1,634 | Watertown NY | 23,517 | $52K | 20.1% | 5.3% | 44% | C− |
| 1,635 | Wisconsin Rapids WI | 18,654 | $55K | 14.8% | 6.6% | 29% | C− |
| 1,636 | Valle Vista CA | 18,602 | $67K | 16.7% | 8.7% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,780 | 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 Watertown, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Next door to Watertown
The biggest share goes to Pamelia (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Watertown’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 Watertown: questions
What is the median household income in Watertown?
$51,753 (±$4,571) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Watertown?
20.1%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Watertown?
16 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Watertown work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Watertown (9%, 3 mi), Le Ray (3%, 9 mi), Pamelia (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Watertown walkable?
Watertown is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Watertown without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Watertown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Watertown
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.