Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Waverly has higher unemployment (7.7%) than 87% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Waverly C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Household incomes here are lower than in 82% of U.S. towns. 2% of workers work from home; New York has 15%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Waverly stands out on work
Commutes from Waverly are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 123 hours a year less on the road than the typical New York worker. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Waverly workers cross into Pennsylvania
36% of Waverly workers work outside New York, most of them in Pennsylvania, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Waverly trades workers with the towns around it
Waverly has about as many jobs (1,548) as working residents (1,708), but they are mostly different people: 1,412 residents leave for work each day while 1,252 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Waverly are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Waverly and Barton trade workers both ways
Barton is the top workplace for Waverly residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Waverly come from (35% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Many of the people who work in Waverly live in another state
Sayre, PA (6%), Athens Township, PA (5%) and Athens, PA (4%) are among the top places Waverly’s workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 15% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
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.
Where Waverly’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waverly is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #619 of 758 in New York. The poverty rate holds Waverly’s grade up (7.3%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waverly could be anywhere from D to B−.
Each way, about 17 minutes from Waverly
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waverly workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,915 commuters (the 3% 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.
19% of working residents work in Barton
Where Waverly clocks in
16% of workers
6% 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.
Who works in Waverly, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,412 residents head out to work, 296 work right here, and 1,252 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 (0.91 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.
Inside Waverly’s 1,548 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waverly, 2013 → 2023: 1,383 → 1,548. 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 Waverly’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Waverly
About 21% 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.
Driving is how Waverly gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waverly is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #341 of 758 in New York. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% 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 1,965 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 40% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 18% 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). 10.6% of Waverly households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waverly’s commuters take a bus or train.
Waverly next to U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,700: 3,230th of 4,195 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Lloyd Harbor NY | 3,587 | $250K | 2.1% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | North Hills NY | 5,481 | $173K | 3.0% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Great Neck Estates NY | 3,139 | $238K | 5.7% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,228 | Long Prairie MN | 3,830 | $59K | 12.7% | 4.5% | 54% | C− |
| 3,229 | Chisholm MN | 4,625 | $51K | 14.0% | 3.9% | 20% | C− |
| 3,230 | Waverly NY | 4,191 | $54K | 7.3% | 7.7% | 17% | C− |
| 3,231 | Jefferson Township MI | 3,037 | $59K | 11.3% | 4.7% | 1% | C− |
| 3,232 | Valdese NC | 4,712 | $51K | 12.8% | 5.8% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,195 | 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 Waverly, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
The towns next door employ 23% of Waverly
The biggest share goes to Barton (19%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Waverly’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 Waverly: questions
What is the median household income in Waverly?
$54,274 (±$9,885) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waverly?
7.3%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waverly?
17 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waverly work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Barton (19%, 5 mi), Sayre (16%, 2 mi), Athens Township (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waverly walkable?
Waverly is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waverly without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 18% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waverly, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waverly
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.