Photo: Andre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0Wilson has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
The two grades for Wilson are B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Employers in Wilson report 718 jobs, against 2,670 working residents. About one in ten work in Wilson; the top destination outside it is Buffalo (11%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Wilson apart on work
Commutes from Wilson 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 ↓
Wilson’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Wilson is Buffalo, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (283) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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 Wilson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wilson is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #327 of 758 in New York. Household income holds Wilson’s grade up ($88,929, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 41% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wilson could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Commuting from Wilson: about 25 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wilson workers work from home, vs 15% across New York. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,368 commuters (the 12% 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.
Wilson’s commute, mile by mile
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.
The daily commute in and out of Wilson
On a workday 2,388 residents head out to work, 282 work right here, and 436 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,800 people are in Wilson on a workday afternoon, 34% 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.
Where Wilson goes to work
Where Wilson clocks in
11% of workers
10% of workers
7% 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.
What Wilson’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wilson, 2013 → 2023: 588 → 718. 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 Wilson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Few in Wilson walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wilson is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns, #591 of 758 in New York. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 32.9% across New York, on an EPA index of 4.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,700 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). 2.1% of Wilson households have no vehicle (New York 29.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wilson’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Wilson ranks: 1,504th of 3,476 U.S. towns of 4,000 to 7,700
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,502 | Warwick NY | 6,534 | $90K | 5.5% | 5.6% | 12% | B |
| 1,503 | North Township IN | 4,030 | $73K | 9.4% | 2.3% | 5% | B |
| 1,504 | Wilson NY | 5,727 | $89K | 8.7% | 3.3% | 11% | B |
| 1,505 | Carmel Valley Village CA | 4,785 | $156K | 4.8% | 6.3% | 11% | B |
| 1,506 | Porters Neck NC | 7,654 | $120K | 3.8% | 12.5% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,476 | 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 Wilson, the top three, the last and three more from New York.
Next door to Wilson
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Wilson’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 Wilson: questions
What is the median household income in Wilson?
$88,929 (±$13,925) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $85,974 across New York and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wilson?
8.7%, against 14.0% across New York and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wilson?
25 minutes each way on average, against 33 across New York and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wilson work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Buffalo (11%, 26 mi), Amherst (10%, 18 mi), Niagara Falls (7%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wilson walkable?
Wilson is more walkable than 39% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wilson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wilson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wilson
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.