Photo: Dclemens1971 · CC BY 4.0Where Wells earns its living
The average commute takes 43 minutes each way, next to 33 for New York and 26 for the U.S. Home is the office for 4% of workers, next to 15% for New York as a whole. About one in ten work in Wells itself; outside it, Lake Pleasant draws the most (18%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 131 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 106 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 (0.83 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 Wells’ residents
Where Wells clocks in
18% of workers
7% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Wells
123 jobs are based in Wells.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wells, 2013 → 2023: 69 → 123. 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 Wells’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Wells: about 43 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wells workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 213 commuters (the 4% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Wells
About 45% 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.
Bordering towns draw 25% of Wells’ workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wells workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wells | – | — | — | 43 min | $74,286 |
| Lake Pleasant | 18% | — | — | 13 min | — |
| Speculator | under 2% | — | — | 12 min | — |
| Hope | 7% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Indian Lake | under 2% | C | B | 24 min | $62,824 |
| Benson | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Arietta | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Stony Creek | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Johnsburg | under 2% | C− | C | 26 min | $60,987 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lake Pleasant, Speculator, Hope, Benson, Arietta and Stony Creek: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lake Pleasant. Darker towns draw more of Wells’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 Wells: questions
What is the median household income in Wells?
$74,286 (±$31,007) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wells?
4.6%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wells?
43 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 Wells work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lake Pleasant (18%, 10 mi), Hope (7%, 11 mi), Queensbury (4%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wells without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wells, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wells
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.