Gen. William Floyd House · Photo: Jack Boucher · Public domainMost of Western commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
5% of workers work from home, where New York as a whole has 15%. Employers in Western report 81 jobs, and 837 of its residents work somewhere. Western grades B− for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Western apart on work
Western is a place people come home to
There are 81 jobs based in Western, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Western has about 1,100 people in it, 41% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Western works one town over
31% of working residents work in a town that borders Western: Rome (26%) and Boonville (5%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Western are quick
The average trip to work takes 25 minutes, against 33 across New York. That’s about 61 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; with 837 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Western’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Western is better than 53% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Western’s grade up (7.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 22% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (2.6%) is left out: Western’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Western could be anywhere from C to B+.
Who commutes out of Western, and who commutes in
On a workday 818 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 62 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Western on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How long Western spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Western workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 720 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.
26% of working residents work in Rome
Where Western clocks in
26% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
43% of the jobs in Western make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Western, 2013 → 2023: 120 → 81. 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 Western’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Western goes to work
About 20% 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.
Most of Western commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 759 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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). 5.2% of Western households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Western’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500, Western ranks 2,025th of 5,656 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 4 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Atlantic Beach NY | 1,723 | $166K | 1.8% | 3.1% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,023 | Pine Level NC | 2,405 | $75K | 8.0% | 3.8% | 4% | B− |
| 2,024 | Harristown Township IL | 1,684 | $77K | 9.7% | 4.4% | 4% | B− |
| 2,025 | Western NY | 1,822 | $89K | 7.0% | 2.6% | 2% | B− |
| 2,026 | Eureka WI | 1,756 | $88K | 5.0% | 4.5% | 3% | B− |
| 2,027 | Kent Acres DE | 2,388 | $92K | 14.2% | 4.5% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Western, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Western and its neighbors: 31% work next door
The biggest share goes to Rome (26%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Western workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western | – | B− | D | 25 min | $88,964 |
| Lee | under 2% | B+ | C− | 22 min | $94,137 |
| Ava | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| Steuben | under 2% | C− | D− | 28 min | $66,181 |
| Rome | 26% | C− | A | 18 min | $59,925 |
| Floyd | under 2% | B+ | D− | 19 min | $98,297 |
| Boonville | 5% | C | C+ | 29 min | $68,253 |
Same-state neighbors only. Ava: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Western’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 Western: questions
What is the median household income in Western?
$88,964 (±$15,854) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Western?
7.0%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Western?
25 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Western work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Rome (26%, 9 mi), Utica (8%, 20 mi), Whitestown (5%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Western walkable?
Western is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Western without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Western, from the people who make the trip.
More of Western
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.